A New World
by Lorne The Host
Summary: Xander's life changes when he becomes involved with a top secret organization that even the Council knows nothing about: Torchwood. Multiple X-overs. ON INDEFINITE HIATUS
1. And So It Begins

**Author Notes:** This has been sitting on my 'To do list' for quite awhile so I figured I'd better at least start it before it drove me crazy. It may be awhile before I update this, since I've got other stories to do and I'm recently engaged, but hopefully my muse will takeover and this thing will wind up being the top priority on the 'to do list'.

**Be Warned This Story is Not Beta Read**

**Pairing:** Xander/Gwen, Jack/Ianto, Owen/Tosh, The Doctor/Rose, Buffy/Angel, Willow/Kennedy, Dawn/Conner, Mickey/Martha, Spike/Illyria, Andrew/Vi

**Summary:** Xander's life changes when he becomes involved with top secret organization that even the Council knows nothing about: Torchwood.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Doctor Who, Torchwood or their characters. (Although I do wish I owned Dawn and Gwen.)

**Rating: **R for strong language, some violence, and sexual situations

**Season: **Post "Chosen"/"Not Fade Away"in the Buffyverse; Post "The Last of the Time Lords"/"End of Days" in the Doctor Who world

**Category:** Action/Drama/Humor/Romance

**Spoilers:** Basic Knowledge of Doctor Who (2005) and Torchwood as well as all of Buffy and Angel

* * *

Xander Harris stood in front of the mirror, making sure that everything was in place. He didn't want to look stupid for the Council's big charity event, even though he thought the suit that Dawn had picked out for him looked ridiculous on him. 

"Everything alright in there?"

Xander smiled at Willow's voice. "Just fine, Wills. Although I'd be much more comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt."

Willow slowly cracked open the door and, upon hearing no protest from Xander, entered. "So would I, but you know how Giles is about these fund-raising thingys."

Xander sighed. "The man does like to get dolled up."

"That he does," Willow grinned in agreement.

Xander turned to face Willow. "Why don't you go downstairs? See if Andrew needs help with something? I'll be down in a minute."

Willow nodded in consent and hurried off. Xander turned his attention back to the mirror, growling in frustration slightly at the sight of his eyepatch. _'Never going to get used it,'_ he thought to himself. He stood in silence for a few more minutes, just listening to the sound of London down below, before Andrew appeared behind him in the mirror.

"Jesus!"

Andrew immediately looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, Xander. But Willow wanted me to tell you that she and the girls are leaving."

"Then who am I catching a ride with?"

Andrew smiled. "Me."

Eyeing the grinning man before him suspiciously, Xander shook his head. "I'll walk."

"But-"

"I said I'll walk, Andrew," Xander repeated, putting a little more steel than required in his voice. Andrew pouted like a scolded child but said nothing. Xander momentarily felt bad but caught himself before reaching out to put a hand on Andrew's shoulder. _'Have to keep up pretenses.'_

Grabbing his long trench coat, which had once belonged to certain brooding vampire before he'd recovered it from the ruins of the L.A. Wolfram & Hart offices, Xander headed out. Knowing his destination was only about a thirty minute walk did little to ease Xander's always alert senses. If there was one thing he'd learned from his stay in Sunnydale, it was always be prepared. He slowly reached into his pocket and fingered the stake he kept there, while simultaneously scanning the dark alleys around him for some sort of hell spawn waiting to attack.

He didn't have to wait long.

Out of the corner of his eye, Xander noticed two figures, locked in a deadly dance that Xander had affectionately come to call "ass-kickery". Not waiting for someone to die, or to think about some sort of plan, Xander rushed straight into the alley, fingers gripping the stake in his pocket.

"Oi!" Xander called out, realizing how ridiculous he sounded saying it as it came out his mouth in his American accent. "What's going on?" He tried for the flippant tone Buffy usually used but fell a few feet short.

The man, or creature as it were, who was pinning the young woman to the wall barely paid attention to him, something most demons did until it was too late. The woman, on the other hand, looked at him with his eyes full of worry. "Get out of here," she managed to choke out.

Xander shook his head. "No one appreciates a good rescuing anymore." Without another word, Xander charged and tackled the beast to the ground. That was to be the last heroic thing he did as the monster immediately sank it's large fangs into Xander's neck and began shaking it's head, like a dog with a toy. Xander tried to break free but the demon was not only stronger but he was rapidly losing blood, a sure sign that he might not make it out his latest escapade alive.

Suddenly the beast let go, running away in agony, and the woman appeared in Xander's line of sight with some sort of gun in her hand. She quickly pulled out a radio and spoke into it, her words drowned out by the throbbing pain in Xander's neck. She finally turned her attention back to him, and knelt by his side. "You're going to be alright," she told him a Welsh accent. "You'll see."

Xander tried to make some kind of quip, but the ragged holes in his throat prevented him from speaking. The woman seemed to sense his growing duress and grabbed his hand. "It's alright," she spoke gently. "My friends will help. You'll see." She smiled, revealing a little gap in her front teeth that Xander found hopelessly cute. "We're good at this sort of thing."

'_That's my line,'_ Xander thought uselessly as the pain finally won out and unconsciousness enveloped him.

88

As soon as awoke, Xander knew something was off. Firstly, the holes in his neck, which should have killed him by now, were gone. Secondly, he was in different clothes. Clothes that appeared to be from the 1940's by the looks of them. And lastly, he wasn't home in his own bed. Or anywhere near where home was. He was lying in what appeared to an infirmary, located in some weird underground station. This last part was purely a guess on Xander's behalf as he could only see the room around him, but his history with the Initiative and the look of the stone walls surrounding him told him that he was somewhere underground.

A door opened and a man about Xander's age, dressed in an immaculate suit, walked in. "How are you feeling?" the man asked.

"Since I should be dead, quite well," Xander replied, deciding on the charming approach. He could switch tactics later on if he needed to.

"I hope you're not to troubled by your surroundings," the man continued. "We had to get some medical help right away and Dr. Harper thought here would be the best place to do it."

"No problem, Suit," Xander said, giving the man a name in lieu of knowing his real one. "This Harper guy has to be one hell of a doc though to fix me up like he did."

"Oh, he is," the man smiled, but something about the smile seemed to say, 'It wasn't all Harper.'

"So...am I good to go?"

"Go?" The man looked to genuinely shocked by the idea of Xander leaving. "I'm afraid that you can't leave just yet."

Although he was technically being held prisoner now, Xander remained in 'charm' mode as he felt no immediate threat yet. "And why is that?"

"Well, the Captain would like a word with you."

"Would he now?"

"Yes," a new, American, voice responded. A second man entered the room. He appeared to shop at the same vintage store that the clothes Xander was wearing were bought at, as he too looked as if he stepped out of the forties and into the modern world. He looked to be in his late thirties and his blue eyes seemed to sparkle with mischief and untold secrets. Truth be told, although he'd never swung that way in his life, Xander thought that this man was damn attractive.

"Ianto, you can leave," he spoke to the suited man who did as he was told. He then turned his attention back to Xander. "You're a lucky man, Mr. Harris. Not many people can say that they were attacked by a Weevil and lived."

"Yay?"

The Captain smiled. "Good. You have a sense of humor. I didn't want to have saved the life of someone who was a bore."

"Nope," Xander replied, "life of the party; that's me." As he stared at the Captain, Xander finally realized just what the man had said. "How'd you know my name?"

"I know a lot about you," The Captain said enigmatically. "Like how you managed to survive the collapse of an entire town with nothing but a lost eye."

Xander suddenly felt uneasy. "How?"

"Records. My people have access to them all." The Captain walked over to the gurney where Xander sat and pulled up a chair. "I've always wondered about Sunnydale," he said, excitement flush on his face. "What really happened?"

Xander shook his head. "Quid pro quo," he said, glad that he had watched the Silence of the Lambs recently. "You know my name, I want yours."

The Captain smiled. "Okay. Jack Harkness."

Xander arched an eyebrow. "Captain Jack?"

Jack chuckled and shook his head. "I was a Captain way before Johnny Depp was." His face quickly returned to it's previous, slightly excited, state. "What were you going to do with this?" he asked, producing Xander's stake.

"Making a tiny fence?"

Jack frowned slightly. "Alexander, the truth please."

Xander sighed and decided that since these people knew about 'Weevils', whatever the hell those were, he might as well break the news about vampires. "I was going to use it to stake any vampires I might've meet up with."

Jack gave him a disbelieving look. "Vampires?"

"Yep."

"Alexander," Jack said, as if talking to a small child, "there are no such things as vampires."

"You believe in demons but you don't believe in vampires?" Xander asked, finding that hard to believe.

"Who said anything about demons?"

"Those Weevil things," Xander said, getting somewhat frustrated with the 'Poor Man' look Jack was giving him. "Aren't they demons?"

Jack smiled. "No. They're aliens."

Xander paused for a second, trying to determine if Jack was kidding or not. When he realized that Jack was telling the truth, Xander found himself at a loss for words; something that didn't happen very often.

"Speechless?" Jack questioned, a proud look on his face. "Most people are when they find out."

Xander shook his head. "I always kinda figured that there were aliens out there," he said. "I'm just trying to think of a way to break the whole 'demons are real' thing to you."

Jack seemed to be amused by Xander's reaction. "You're telling me that you're serious? Vampires and demons are real?"

Xander matched Jack's look as he said, "Are you telling me aliens are real?"

The two men sat in a contemplative silence for a few moments before Jack spoke. "Let's get a drink."

88

Xander sat in the back of a pub feeling slightly self-conscious at his and Jack's matching 40's garb. The fact that this was the only thing bothering him impressed Jack greatly. The younger man had not only taken Jack's "21st Century" speech well but he'd also taken the 'invisible lift' and the Hub in stride as well. "You get used to this kind of stuff," he'd explained.

Jack took another swig of his beer and noticed that Xander hadn't touched his. "Something wrong?" Jack asked, nodding toward the glass.

Xander shrugged his shoulders. "I don't feel like forgetting everything you're telling me," he answered, taking great pride in the shocked look that went across Jack's face. His own memories from his brief experience being possessed and his encounters with the Initiative had left Xander with enough knowledge to know better than to trust shady government groups. Especially ones that didn't answer to anyone.

"You're good," Jack said, his face betraying nothing.

"I try."

Jack eyed Xander a moment longer then said, "Your turn. Give me the skinny on demons."

Xander took a deep breath and tried to recall the spiel Giles was so fond of giving to the young Slayers. "Well, okay...um, the earth is a lot older than most people realize. And unlike what the general consensus is, it didn't start off as a paradise." Jack leaned back but Xander could tell he was interested. "It was over run by demons. Huge, monstrous creatures that were the epitome of evil." _'Thank god, Giles got me the word of the day calendar.'_

"Abaddon," Jack muttered.

"What?" Xander asked, leaning forward.

Jack shook his head. "Nothing. Continue."

Xander returned to normal but decided to keep a closer watch on Jack. "Anyway, one day the demons were banished to hell. Before they left one mixed his blood with a human and before you know it..."

"Vampires," Jack finished.

"And all sorts of other nasties," Xander added. "Not pure demon like the originals but still not something you wanna come across."

Jack appeared to be deep in thought for a few seconds. "That's why you rushed in to save Gwen? You thought the Weevil was a demon?" Xander nodded and Jack digested this. "You know how to fight demons then?"

Xander struggled to answer the question. "Kinda." Off of Jack's look he added, "I mean, I can handle myself in a fight but I'm not like...super strong or good with weapons. Except for the occasional axe."

Jack's face lit up at this. "An axe? You use axes?"

"And swords."

"That's excellent!" Jack hesitated for a second and doubt clouded his face but he quickly displaced it and smiled again. "Xander, I don't normally do this but I want to make you an offer."

"What kind of offer?" Xander asked, although he had the sinking suspicion that he knew what was about to be said.

"You seem like a decent fellow," Jack began, "and you did save Gwen tonight, for which I think I can speak for her and myself when I say 'Thank you'. Not to mention you're easy on the eyes and have knowledge of a world that my group hasn't even dreamt about." Xander felt a little uncomfortable after Jack's 'easy on the eyes' comment but held his tongue. "Torchwood has vast and unlimited resources Xander; I want you to join up and help us."

"But I don't know anything about aliens," Xander protested.

Jack shook his head. "You can learn that stuff." The man was suddenly much more animated then Xander had ever seen him. "Look, if you're right and there's a whole other battle going and Torchwood doesn't help...then I won't feel good about myself in the morning. And I like to feel good."

Xander sat, trying to sort out what Jack was saying. "So you want me to be your...what? Demonology expert?"

"Exactly!" Jack practically yelled triumphantly. "Torchwood has a chance to save the world from a whole other threat. Just think about it; you could be saving the world."

Xander tried to look as if he hadn't done that literally a half-dozen times already and if Jack hadn't been so excited he would've been busted. "Tell you what," Xander said, trying to find the best possible way to let Jack down. "I'll get back to you."

Jack looked crestfallen. "What?"

Xander, who'd already been sliding out of the booth, stopped and sighed. "I have life, Jack. Friends and family and a really important job."

"You can do both," Jack replied.

Xander smiled. "Not my job." Jack looked somewhat sullen and Xander patted the man on the back. "No hard feelings?"

Jack shrugged, pouting slightly. "I guess not."

"See you around, Jack," Xander said, walking out of the bar. He almost glanced back but thought better. _'This was a weird, one night misadventure,' _he told himself. _'Never going to see these people or think about them again. Like that night in high school with all the zombies. Which also, featured a Jack.' _But then the imagine of the woman in the alley, Gwen, came to mind and Xander's long dormant stomach-dwelling butterflies woke up.

_'Oh, Hell.'_


	2. Soul Men

**Author Notes:** This came out a little faster than I thought, mostly because I just finished the series three DVD of 'Doctor Who'.

**Be Warned This Story is Not Beta Read**

**Pairing:** Xander/Gwen, Jack/Ianto, Owen/Tosh, The Doctor/Rose, Buffy/Angel, Willow/Kennedy, Dawn/Conner, Mickey/Martha, Spike/Illyria, Andrew/Vi

**Summary:** Xander's life changes when he becomes involved with another secret organization: Torchwood.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Doctor Who, Torchwood or their characters. (Although I do wish, I owned Dawn and Gwen.)

**Rating: **R for strong language, some violence, and sexual situations

**Season: **Post "Chosen"/"Not Fade Away"in the Buffyverse; Post "The Last of the Time Lords"/"End of Days" in the Doctor Who worlds

**Category:** Action/Drama/Humor/Romance

**Spoilers:** Basic Knowledge of Doctor Who (2005) and Torchwood as well as all of Buffy and Angel

88

Xander had always prided himself on being a simple man. For the most part, he loved it. But every now and then a situation like the one he found himself in came up and he, being a simple man and all, was at a lost. After phoning Willow to tell her he was skipping the dinner on account of a stomachache, an excuse that made him feel like a toddler again, he returned to his apartment to find the clothes he'd been wearing before the attack, including Angel's old coat, neatly piled and folded on the couch with a note reading _'Keep the clothes we gave you-Ianto' _pinned to them.

"They know where I live?" Xander said aloud. _'Of course they do,'_ he chided himself. _'They know pretty much everything there is to know.' _Xander quickly seized control of himself before he had a panic attack. After putting away the clothes, the phone began to ring.

"Hello?" he greeted nervously.

"Xander," Giles' familiar voice came. "Get to the Council right away. We have a slight situation."

Pausing only to grab his coat, Xander headed out to Council headquarters, a trip made difficult by his lack of a car and a reliance on buses to get there. Nearly twenty minutes after the call, Xander arrived at Council Headquarters.

Pushing through the imposing front doors, he called out. "Giles! Giles, what's going on?"

"Hey, Boytoy." Xander looked to his left where Faith had appeared. "Nice of you to join us."

"Faith, not now," Xander warned, rushing over. "I've had a long night."

Faith began leading Xander down the hall to the Council's own infirmary, a wicked grin on her beautiful face. "It's about to get longer."

Xander felt as if he knew what was coming, even before Faith had opened the doors. Sure enough, once the infirmary came into sight, Xander saw them: Angel and Spike. "Fuck," he whispered.

88

"Where'd they come from?" Xander asked, once everyone had gathered in the adjoining room.

Giles sighed, running his hand over his face. "I have no idea," he said. "Willow was checking the CCTV monitors when she spotted them on the lawn."

Xander sat in his chair, puzzled. "So what? They just suddenly appeared there?"

Willow nodded. "I looked away for a second and when I looked back, there they were."

Xander tried to digest this. He didn't know what was going on and judging by the look on Giles' face, neither did he. A little over a month ago the Council had received word that the L.A. office of Wolfram & Hart had collapsed. Not wanting to get Buffy involved, Giles had sent a team consisting of Xander, Wood, and a few young Slayers to investigate the ruins. Their search turned up the bodies of a man identified as Charles Gunn and, Buffy's old Watcher, Wesley. The search never turned up anything on either Spike or Angel and the only sign Xander found of them was Angel's coat, which he had taken as a memento of his fallen alley. Now, a month later, both vampires mysteriously had turned up on the Council's doorstep, uninjured except for a few bruises and scrapes and their apparent comas.

"I suggest we run a full diagnostic," Wood spoke, pulling Xander out of his thoughts. "See what's keeping them unconscious."

Giles nodded absentmindedly. "Good idea." He glanced at Willow. "How do you feel about running a magical scan on them? Make sure it's not some sort of curse."

Willow stood. "Of course. I'll also make sure that they're actually Angel and Spike."

Xander sat watching as Giles handed out research assignments to Dawn and Andrew and then asked Kennedy and Faith to watch over the comatose vampires as 'someone may still want them dead.' Even Buffy, whose face showed the shock she was in, was asked to keep a close eye on the CCTV cameras, just in case. Xander knew this was more of a distraction then an actual assignment but Buffy hurried to do her task. "What about me, G-Man?"

Giles exhaled slowly and shook his head. "I don't think you'll be needed for anything tonight. I suggest you go home and rest." Without another word, Giles turned and left.

Xander remained in his seat, trying to understand how after almost nine years his friends could still find no use for him outside of plucky comic relief. _'There is somewhere where you'd be appreciated,'_ Xander reminded himself, thinking of Jack and Torchwood but as soon as the thought came, he shook it away. _'This is my home; my family. I can't leave them.'_ But even as Xander started to rise, he couldn't help but notice how hollow the words sounded to him.

88

The next morning Xander decided not to go in to work. The return of Angel and Spike would have the whole Council buzzing and since he was the only remaining Scooby without a job to do, he knew that the younger Slayers would be finding all sorts of ridiculous reasons to stop by his office and ask questions about the souled wonders. And for some reason, that didn't appeal to him all that much.

So instead of going to work, Xander found himself walking around London enjoying the sights, something he had never really done before. It was during this walk that Xander ran into Captain Jack Harkness again. The man was walking down the street, talking into seemingly thin air, his demeanor that of someone who was secretly looking for something. _'Or someone.' _

Not wanting to be spotted by the man, Xander hurriedly ducked into a nearby alley. He slowly craned his neck around the nearest building's edge, watching as the Captain walked off in the opposite direction. Xander sighed with relief and leaned against the building, his eye closing itself to the outside world. "Hello again."

Opening his eye, Xander saw the woman from the alley, Gwen, standing before him. "We have to stop meeting like this," she grinned.

"Tell me about it," Xander laughed nervously. "At least there isn't a Weevil this time."

"Or a demon," she shot back, a look of incredulousness crossing her pretty face.

Xander shrugged. "Believe what you will." He made his way back onto the sidewalk, thinking the conversation was over, but Gwen appeared at his side.

"You're serious, aren't you?" she asked, looking slightly amazed at the thought.

"No," Xander said, "I just tell random people about demons to get a laugh."

Gwen brushed off his sarcasm and continued to stare at him almost as if she was examining him. "Is that how you lost your eye?" she finally spoke. "Demons?"

"Yeah," he answered, neglecting to mention that in actuality it had been a human with demonic powers who'd done the deed.

"I'm sorry," she said softly.

"It's okay."

The two continued on in a silence that was surprisingly comfortable for a few more blocks until, "So are you in?"

Xander looked over at her. "Excuse me?"

"Torchwood. Are you in?"

Xander shook his head, chuckling. "And hear I thought that there was a beautiful woman interested in me."

Gwen seemed taken aback by his use of the word 'beautiful' and Xander mentally kicked himself before pressing on. "So Jack sent you?"

"Not really," Gwen said. "He was going to come alone to find you but since you saved my life last night, I kinda wanted to say thanks."

"Well, you're welcome," Xander replied.

Gwen reached out and took his hand; Xander did his best to ignore the butterflies that had returned full force to his stomach. "Xander, Torchwood does a lot of good. And Jack truly believes that if there is more danger out there, then it's our job to stop it. But we don't know enough about these demons to even stand a chance."

Xander tried to say 'no' but the look on Gwen's face, and the touch of her hand on his, made it impossible. "I'll give you guys lessons on how to defend yourselves but that's it," he finally said.

Gwen lit up at this and hugged him. "Thank you."

As Xander hugged her back, one thought crossed his mind, _'What the hell did I just get myself into?'_

88

That night, Xander found himself in front of the mirror once again agonizing over his attire. "You look fine."

Xander jumped at the by now familiar voice. "Jesus, how'd you get in here?"

Jack's smiling face appeared behind Xander in the mirror. "I have my ways. And by the way, it's Jack not Jesus." He patted Xander on the back and slid out of view. "I'm assuming this fashion show is for Gwen?"

"No," Xander laughed off nervously. "I just want to make a good first impression."

Jack eyed him knowingly but said nothing. "You at least ready, then?"

Xander gave himself a once over in the mirror before nodding. "Let's do this."

88

Xander rubbed his hands together, the bottomless feeling in his stomach growing larger by the second. _'Am I really doing this?' _he asked himself. Then Jack poked his head into the office and said, "They're ready."

Xander took a deep breath and followed Jack into the hall. "Deep breaths, Xander. You'll do fine."

"Thanks," Xander said, glad that Jack was at least making an effort to show his support. "I've just never...you know, been an expert on...well, anything."

Jack smiled. "You know more than we do."

Xander conceded that point and then found himself outside of the Torchwood conference room. Glancing in, he could see Gwen talking animatedly with a young black woman and, in addition to Ianto's stoic figure in the corner, two other people in the room that he did recognize. "Ready?" Jack questioned.

Xander took another deep breath. "As I'll ever be."

The two men entered the room and immediately Xander felt all eyes land on him. Without a word, Xander took his place at the head of the table where Ianto had set up a small podium. Standing behind it, Xander felt a little pretentious and decided not to make any sarcastic remarks the next time Giles gave a speech.

"Everyone," Jack spoke, facing the assembled group, "this is Xander. Xander this is my team." He pointed to the young black woman. "This is Martha, our newest recruit." Xander nodded, recognizing the new kid look on her face and feeling for her. "This isTosh," Jack continued, indicating the Asian woman on his left, "and Owen." Xander made a mental note to thank Owen for saving his life later. "I believe you already know Gwen and Ianto."

Jack sat in the chair nearest the podium. "Xander here is going to give us the rundown on a danger we didn't even know existed until last night; demons." Xander heard Owen snigger at this.

"Something wrong?" Xander heard himself ask, before even really understanding that he was speaking.

Owen shook his head, although an amused look remained on his face. "No, sir."

Xander glanced at Jack. "I got it." Jack leaned back in his chair and gestured for Xander to take over. He quickly looked over the group and paused when he saw Gwen smiling at him and giving a small thumbs-up. Suddenly, this seemed much easier. Without preamble, Xander launched right into Giles' 'Earth is older than you know' speech. Even though he'd heard it the night before, albeit not as eloquently, Jack seemed totally absorbed in everything he was saying; so did everyone else, with maybe the exception of Owen.

"Any questions, so far?" Xander asked, pausing to let the group get caught up with what he was saying.

"Exactly how many species are there?" Tosh asked.

"What?"

"Types,"Jack said. "There's at least six hundred different aliens on earth alone; Tosh wants to know how many different kinds of demon there is."

Xander did some calculating in his head. "No one's ever done a survey or anything but if I had to guess...I'd say, fifteen thousand."

"Thousand?" Gwen repeated.

Xander sighed. "Yeah."

Jack seemed to take this number in stride. "Tough work, then."

"That it is."

There was a brief silence and then Owen spoke. "So how long have you been 'fighting demons'?" Something about the way he said 'fighting demons' made Xander want to punch him.

"Nine years."

"How old where you when you started?" Martha asked, clearly taken by surprise by the number.

"Sixteen."

Jack smiled. "Started young. I like it." Owen snorted and Xander finally had enough.

"Is there something wrong, Doc?"

Owen fixed him with a glare before saying, "Yeah. This demon bollocks. They ain't real."

"Like aliens?" Xander countered.

Owen rolled his eyes. "Enough already! Aliens are real. Their bloody science. Your demons, on the other hand, aren't!"

Xander realized what Owen's anger was really about as Gwen began to chastise him. "It's alright," he said, surprising everyone. "I know why you're mad, Owen."

"Enlighten me," the man replied nastily.

"You're scared," Xander said simply. "Because if demons and monsters are real than it only stands to reason that angels are real, too. And that means there is a Heaven and there is a Hell." He could tell by Owen's face that he was right. "The greatest question in the universe, one that even science can't answer, has just been answered for you." He looked at everyone in the room. "There is life after death."

88

The next morning, Xander made his way to the Council feeling ten times better than the day before. The rest of the Torchwood briefing had been spent talking things over and eventually he and Jack decided to continue with the briefing another day. Once inside the Council however, the happy buzz that he had going was quickly squashed.

"Where the hell have you been?" Buffy demanded, pouncing on him almost the second he walked through the door. "We're in the middle of a crisis and you're off God knows where doing God knows what."

Xander held up hands in the international 'Can I say something, Please' gesture and was relieved when Buffy seemed to be willing to give him a chance to get a word in. "I had some things I needed to take care of." Off of Buffy's look he added, "Not the best excuse but it's true."

Buffy momentarily looked as if she was going to resume yelling but thought better of it. "Well, since you're here now maybe you can take the next shift watching Angel and Spike?"

Although he wanted to do no such thing, he agreed. After stopping by his office to pick up a book, he headed toward the infirmary wherehe took over watching the comatose vampires for a disheveled looking Wood. Barely a second after the former Principal's exit, there were two sharp intakes of breath and Angel and Spike both sprung up in bed. "Holy sh-," was all Xander could manage before falling out of his chair.

88

The next few hours were a haze. Giles and Willow ran every test, medical and magical, that they could think but the answer to the vampires coma and disappearance from L.A. couldn't be answered. Neither Angel or Spike remembered what happened after the battle with the Senior Partners and it seemed as if things would be staying that way for awhile. The question that Xander wanted answered however, was not where had they come from or why come here; but, _Why did they wake up as soon as I got into that room alone?_

As it turned out, Angel and Spike wondered the same thing. After dinner, the vampires managed to slip away from Buffy long enough to confront him about this. "My guess is as good as yours," Xander said. The three of them were in his office.

Xander's phone vibrated and glanced at his text from Jack. Xander sent a reply that he would be late as Angel said, "There has to be a reason for this. Everyone else was in that room with us and when you come in, we're suddenly awake?"

Xander shrugged, hoping to end the conversation soon. "Listen guys, I've got to go so..."

"Hot date?" Spike laughed.

"Something like that." He turned to leave but Angel blocked his way out. "Move, Deadboy."

Angel shook his head. "Something weird is going here, Xander. You know it, I know it, even Spike knows it."

Xander tried to come up with an argument but the truth was, Angel and Spike's miraculous recovery in his presence, was more than weird. "I know," he finally admitted. "But I really have to be somewhere."

"Then we're coming with you," Angel said.

"What?" Xander and Spike asked in unison.

"Until we figure this out, I think we should stick together."

"Are you kidding me?" Xander snapped. "There's no reason for you to stick to me like glue!"

"Exactly!" Spike shouted in agreement.

Angel held up his hands. "Listen..." Although the vampire began to talk, Xander tuned him out, instead worrying about how he was going to get to Torchwood without them following. But as Angel continued to talk, an idea occurred to him.

"Okay."

Angel stopped mid-sentence. "Okay, what?"

"You guys can follow me or whatever you feel the need to do until this is all over with."

Angel cast him a wary glance but nodded. "Good." Both men faced Spike.

"It's better than sitting around here with Buffy starting at me," Spike finally said.

Xander grinned. Torchwood wanted vampires? He'd give them vampires.


	3. Between a Torch and a Council Place

**Author Notes:** Sorry it took me so long to update. Life has a funny way of catching up with you. Anyway, I promise to try and have the next part up much sooner but who knows.

**Be Warned This Story is Not Beta Read**

**Pairing:** Xander/Gwen, Jack/Ianto, Owen/Tosh, The Doctor/Rose, Buffy/Angel, Willow/Kennedy, Dawn/Conner, Mickey/Martha, Spike/Illyria, Andrew/Vi

**Summary:** Xander's life changes when he becomes involved with another secret organization: Torchwood.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Doctor Who, Torchwood or their characters. (Although I do wish, I owned Dawn and Gwen.)

**Rating: **R for strong language, some violence, and sexual situations

**Season: **Post "Chosen"/"Not Fade Away"in the Buffyverse; Post "The Last of the Time Lords"/"End of Days" in the Doctor Who worlds

**Category:** Action/Drama/Humor/Romance

**Spoilers:** Basic Knowledge of Doctor Who (2005) and Torchwood as well as all of Buffy and Angel

88

"Where the hell are we?" Spike asked as Xander led the vampire and Angel into the little shop that covered the entrance to Torchwood.

"Cardiff," Xander responded.

Spike gave him a dirty look. "I got that, Harris. I mean what the hell is this place?" As he spoke, Spike gave the building a disapproving glance.

Before Xander could answer, Ianto emerged from the back. "Evening, Xander," he greeted. Upon spotting Angel and Spike, he visibly tensed. "Who are they?"

"Friends."

"I wouldn't go that far," Spike muttered.

Ianto stared at Xander, obviously waiting for more of an explanation. When Xander wasn't forthcoming he simply shrugged his shoulders and opened the door to Torchwood.

"Bloody hell," Spike let out in surprise.

"Xander, what is this place?" Angel asked.

Xander motioned for the vampires to follow him. "Torchwood,"he said, once they were already in the hall.

Angel gave him a funny look. "What are you doing hanging around a bunch of alien-hunters?"

"How did you know what they do here?"

"Torchwood's been around for at least 200 years," the vampire explained. "I've run into them before but they had no idea what they were dealing with."

Xander placed a restraining hand on Angel. "When you say you've had run-in's with them before, do you mean 'you' or Angelus?"

Angel momentarily looked flustered. "Angelus."

"Great," Xander said. "Let me do the talking?"

The trio finally reached the hub. "Before we get in there," Xander began, "I need to tell you guys something." He then proceeded to summarize the events of the past three days.

"So...you want us to go in there and do what?" Spike questioned wearily.

"Just vamp out and show them what you guys can do."

"And we have your word, we won't get 'accidentally' staked?"

"I'll do my best."

Spike seemed ready to protest but Angel silenced him with a dismissive wave of his hand. "We're doing this."

"Whatever," the younger vampire sighed. "Lead on, Droopy."

Xander grimaced at the nickname and led the vampires inside Torchwood's nerve center. Almost immediately Jack was upon them. "Xander," he said quietly, "who are these men?"

"Friends," Xander replied. When Jack's look of panic did not leave his face Xander placed a hand on his shoulder. "Trust me."

Jack's face seemed conflicted for a moment but the man finally relented. "I do."

Xander smiled. "Good. Where is everybody?"

"Upstairs in the conference room," Jack answered, staring at Angel and Spike.

Xander headed upstairs, the others right behind. His reception this time was much friendlier with Gwen and Martha giving him small hugs and Owen even shaking his hand. Things changed a little when Angel and Spike entered the room. "Who the hell are they?" Owen demanded.

Xander motioned everyone to sit down and took his place at the podium. "Everyone these are some old pals of mine: Angel and Spike." Spike waved sarcastically to the group. "Angel and Spike are vampires."

As if someone threw a switch, the room erupted with shouts. Everyone, particularly Owen, seemed to backing away from the duo while simultaneously cursing Xander and asking what the hell he was thinking. Only Jack seemed unfazed by the announcement. "Calm down," he finally said. When none of his team appeared to do so, Jack repeated himself with a little more authority. "I said, calm down."

Gwen was the first to get themselves together. Martha and Ianto quickly followed suit, and although they both looked mad still, Owen and Tosh calmed as well. "Xander, please explain yourself."

Xander swallowed nervously before he began. "While, it's true most vampires are evil, Angel and Spike are the exceptions to the rule."

"How so?" Owen asked angrily.

"They have souls." This seemed to placate the group long enough for Xander to finish. "Most vampires are soulless monsters, uncaring about the carnage and death they inflict. Angel and Spike, on the other hand, both have souls. And with those souls, comes a sense of right and wrong; a conscience."

"Good vampires?" Gwen asked meekly.

"Yes. I know from personal experience that these two are some of the fiercest warriors you will ever meet. And they fight the forces of darkness; not for them."

There was a pause and then, "How?"

Xander looked at Tosh in surprise. "Beg pardon?"

"How did they get souls? If becoming a vampire strips of your human soul, how did these two get theirs back?"

Xander hesitated, unsure how to answer. Thankfully, Angel took over. "I was cursed."

"Cursed?"

"I was an evil man," Angel said.

"Sociopathic actually," Spike interjected.

Angel rolled his eyes and continued. "I called myself Angelus; I didn't hesitate to kill, turn, or rape anyone I came across." He stopped, his face becoming full of the broody emotion Xander remembered so well. "Then one night I killed a Gypsy girl. Her family was heartbroken. They placed a curse on me; gave me back my soul so that I could feel the pain and guilt of all that I had done over the years." Once again the vampire paused to collect himself. "I've spent almost a hundred years trying to atone for my sins."

A heavy silence descended over the room as the Torchwood members took in Angel's story. "What about you?" Jack finally asked Spike.

"Me? I got mine to get laid."

Xander put his head in his hands, sighing at Spike's usual irreverent behavior. Off of everyone's looks the blonde added, "Hey, we can't all be bloody depressing heroes."

"Be that as it may," Xander said, straightening himself, "Spike is just as much as good as Angel is. And, even though I don't like them very much, I trust these guys with my life."

"That's good enough for me," Jack grinned.

"Me too," Gwen added.

Martha and the others, with the usual exception of Owen, soon came around. "So they're vampires, huh?" Martha asked. "They don't look scary."

As if on cue, Spike vamped out and hissed in her direction. Martha let out a shocked yelp as did Gwen and Tosh. Spike reverted back to his human face, tears falling from his eyes as he silently laughed at the girls. "Bloody priceless," he muttered.

Xander sent him a disapproving stare as he apologized to the ladies. "As Spike just showed vampires can look human until they're ready to fight or to kill. Then the bloodlust takes over and they morph into their true visage."

Martha simply nodded, still too shaken up for words. "How strong are they?" Tosh spoke, having gotten her wits back.

"Incredibly," Xander said. "These two could take on five Weevils apiece and have no problem."

"If they're that strong, how did we kill them?" Owen asked.

"They same ways you've been hearing for years," Xander shrugged. "Wooden stake to the heart, fire, sunlight, decapitation."

"What about holy water? Garlic?" Gwen said.

"Holy water burns them and if you can get them to drink, it will kill them. Garlic, on the other hand won't have effect on them at all."

"Crosses?"

"Yes, those will burn them too."

Tosh hurriedly wrote something down in a notebook that had suddenly appeared in her lap. "If they were to bite me, would I become a vampire?" she asked, not looking up from whatever she was writing.

"No. A vampire has to suck your blood, then get you to drink their blood in order to make you one of them. That would make the vampire who did it you're sire."

"Sire?" Owen repeated.

"Yeah. Angel here is Spike's grand-sire."

"That means he sired the vampire who made Spike?" Jack said.

"Correct."

Tosh finally finished scribbling in her notebook and asked one last question, "Are they corpses?"

"Technically, no," Xander answered. "However, they are cold like a corpse."

"How so?"

"We're room temperature," Angel spoke.

"Oh."

"Any other questions?" Xander asked.

Owen raised his hands. "Can we see them in action?"

88

"Why couldn't you have said 'no', Harris?"

"Because I want to shut that Owen prick up," Xander whispered back to Spike. They, along with Angel, stood in the shadows of an alleyway where Tosh had told them a Weevil den was located. Xander held a tiny camera, currently turned off, ready to start recording the second Angel and Spike sprung into action so that Jack and the others could see firsthand what a vampire could do.

"It had nothing to do with that Gwen bint?" Spike asked, a grin spreading across his face. "The one with the nice naughty bits?"

Xander glared at him as said, "No, Spike. Not everything's about sex."

Spike shrugged. "If you say so, whelp."

Xander turned the camera on, silently fuming at Spike. He didn't how the vampire had picked up on his crush on Gwen but now that he knew, Xander was sure he wouldn't let up. _'I've spent way too much time with him,'_ Xander thought as he signaled Angel and Spike forward.

The vampires wasted no time in ripping off the manhole cover that was directly above the Weevil nest. Running up to the edge of the manhole, Xander tilted the camera down, so that it could clearly see Angel and Spike fighting the Weevils. In close to five minutes the nest was decimated. The two vampires emerged from the sewer and Xander turned the camera off.

"So are you leaving the Council?" Angel asked, as he brushed pieces of Weevil off of his clothes.

Xander shrugged. "At first I didn't think I'd want to, but now with Buffy and the others not really giving me anything to do and with Jack's offer..."

"You're torn," Angel finished.

Xander sighed. "That I am."

88

As it turned out, Xander didn't have to worry about being torn. The following morning when he reported to the Council he found Giles, Willow, and Buffy pouring over some kind of ancient tome in the main library. "What's the what?" he asked, taking in their worried faces.

"We have a, uh, slight situation," Giles responded, his brow creased with worry. "Last night, Faith met up with some unsavory fellows who nearly put her into a coma."

"Is she alright?" Xander said, angry at himself for not having been at the Council.

Giles nodded. "She's recovering." He pointed to the book. "What does concern me is the description of the demons who attacked her and the relic they had with them."

"Two plus two makes apocalypse?"

"Unfortunately, yes," the Watcher replied dryly.

Xander joined his friends. "So what can I do?"

Giles began to reply but Buffy cut him off. "No."

"What?"

Buffy faced Xander, a determined look on her face. "Xander this is too dangerous. I don't think you should get involved."

"What the hell do you mean?" Xander snapped. "I've been 'involved' for almost a decade Buffy; I'm not going to stop now."

"Buffy," Giles spoke, "I tend to agree with Xander. He's proven himself highly capable."

"Look what these past eight years have gotten him," Buffy said, as if Xander wasn't standing there. "He's lost an eye, his home, Anya. I can't let him lose anything else."

"Excuse me," Xander said angrily. "We all lost our homes, Buffy and Willow lost Tara; how am I any different?"

"I have Kennedy," Willow said softly.

One look at his best friend was all Xander needed to know where she stood on the issue. "And my eye?" Xander continued. "So what? I know the risks, we all do. But I'm not walking away."

"I didn't say walk away," Buffy defended. "Just...out of harm's way." She fixed him with a sympathetic look that made his stomach turn. "I can't keep looking over my shoulder for you."

"I'll be fine," Xander protested.

"What if you get blind-sided?"

Buffy's last words found their mark. "Screw this," Xander said. "I'm outta here." He quickly exited the room, not wanting to look back at his supposed friends.

"Xander, wait!"

He stopped, turning to look at the approaching form of Giles. "I'll have you know I don't share the girls low opinion of you. I happen to think you're an incredible asset to us."

Xander smiled sadly. "Thanks, G-Man. But I think I need some time away from Buffy and Willow."

Giles sighed. "You'll be back?"

"Yeah. But's there something I've gotta do first."

88

Gwen Cooper heard the knock at her door and immediately wondered who it could be. It was almost three in the morning, on a night when Jack had sent them all home early, and she didn't know anyone who'd be stopping by this late.

"What the hell?" Rhys' voice came as there was another knock.

"I'll get it," she said soothingly, putting her hand on his chest. "You stay here." She quickly grabbed her gun from the bedside table and made her way to the front door. "Who is it?" she asked, feeling foolish as she did so.

"Me."

At first Gwen thought the American accent on the other side belonged to Jack but after opening the door, she realized she was wrong.

"Hello, Gwen," Xander Harris smiled. "Can I crash on your couch?"


	4. A Good Year For the Roses

**Author Notes:**.I still didn't get this up as quick as I would've liked but that's life. There are also going to be more crossovers ahead; so be on the lookout for some recognizable characters.

**Be Warned This Story is Not Beta Read**

**Pairing:** Xander/Gwen, Jack/Ianto, Owen/Tosh, The Doctor/Rose, Buffy/Angel, Willow/Kennedy, Dawn/Conner, Mickey/Martha, Spike/Illyria, Andrew/Vi

**Summary:** Xander's life changes when he becomes involved with another secret organization: Torchwood.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Doctor Who, Torchwood or their characters. (Although I do wish, I owned Dawn and Gwen.)

**Rating: **R for strong language, some violence, and sexual situations

**Season: **Post "Chosen"/"Not Fade Away"in the Buffyverse; Post "The Last of the Time Lords"/"End of Days" in the Doctor Who worlds

**Category:** Action/Drama/Humor/Romance

**Spoilers:** Basic Knowledge of Doctor Who (2005) and Torchwood as well as all of Buffy and Angel

88

Xander felt, more than saw, Rhys eyeing him suspiciously. "Who's he, again?" he asked Gwen.

"He works with me," she lied. "New guy."

"Didn't have a place to stay so I looked up Gwen here," Xander added, putting an arm around her. Rhys' eyes narrowed and Xander took his arm away.

"So I guess you've decided to come aboard full time, then?" Gwen asked.

Xander thought he detected hope in her eyes but he simply chalked it up to wishful thinking. "Yep. I'm in."

Gwen smiled and, when Rhys looked away for a second, gave him a quick hug. "That's great news Xander."

Xander matched Gwen's smile. "It certainly is."

88

"And this will be your office," Jack finished, opening the door to an office bigger than the one he had at the Council.

"Wait," Owen's voice came. "He gets an office? How come?"

"Because he's our demon expert," Jack replied. "He's bound to have books and stuff that he needs. So I just gave him this room; no one's using it."

Owen stalked away, quietly seething. "Don't mind him," Jack said, putting an arm around Xander. "He'll warm up to you."

"Can't wait."

Jack smiled. "Need help with any of your stuff?"

Xander shook his head. "I got it."

88

"Why are we doing this?"

"Because Spike," Angel grunted, lifting Xander's desk, "Xander is our friend and he asked for help."

The blonde vampire, who was carrying a box of books, arched his scarred brow. "In other words, you still want to keep a close eye on him after what happened?"

Angel placed the desk in the back of the rented truck. "Yeah."

Xander and Giles emerged from the apartment each carrying the last of the books; most of which Giles had donated. "So what is Torchwood exactly?" Giles was asking.

Xander handed the box over to Angel as he said, "They're like the Council for aliens."

"And what will your job be?"

"To teach them about demons and stuff," Xander said. "Should be easy considering all the experience I have."

"There's no use trying to talk you out of this is there?" Giles asked sadly.

"Nope. Sorry, G-Man."

Giles sighed. "Very well then. Be careful." For a moment Giles almost looked as though he was going to hug Xander but his upbringing, and Spike's amused look, convinced him otherwise.

"It's only for a few months," Xander reminded the Watcher.

"Yes, well..."

"Oh, for Pete's sake," Spike interrupted, "either hug the Whelp or leave so we can get a move on."

Giles gave him a angry glare but quickly, and somewhat awkwardly, hugged Xander. "Let's never do that again," Xander said after the hug was over.

"Agreed."

88

"Does anyone else notice how quickly we get to Cardiff?" Spike asked.

Xander, who had been trying to sleep, opened his eye and looked at the vampire who sat between him and the driving Angel. "Excuse me?"

"I'm just saying that as far apart as Cardiff and London are, you'd think it would take more than a bloody thirty minute ride to get there."

Xander thought about it for a minute and realized, as much as it pained him to admit, that Spike was right. They hadn't taken any kind of shortcut or been going very fast but in just thirty minutes they'd reached the city. "That is weird," Xander agreed.

"Maybe you should Captain Jack about that?"

Xander shrugged and made a mental note to do just that. "Here we are," Angel said, pulling up in front of the apartment Jack and Tosh had gotten him. It was conveniently in the same building as Gwen and not too far from Torchwood headquarters. Xander followed the two vampires out of the truck and watched as Gwen, Jack, and Rhys emerged from the building.

"Hello, neighbor," Gwen greeted, wrapping him in a hug. Xander noticed Rhys looking uncomfortable and quickly ended the hug which he'd hoped would've lasted longer.

Jack meanwhile had opened the back of the truck and was sizing up Xander's belongings. "Nice," he muttered. He poked his head around the side of the truck and said, "Let's get everything inside."

There were murmurs of agreement and just thirty minutes they had everything inside Xander's apartment. "Anything else?" Rhys asked, looking as if he wanted to leave.

"Nope," Jack said. "Everything else goes to Torchwood."

Rhys grunted and turned to Gwen. "I'm going to bed. Try not to wake me when you come home."

"He's wonderful," Xander said.

Gwen shoved him playfully. "He just doesn't like the fact that you turned up on our doorstep in the middle of the night; he'll warm up to you."

"I keep hearing that," Xander replied, looking over at an amused Jack.

"Well," Spike spoke, "I'd love to stay and help unpack but me and Peaches have to go before the sun comes up."

Angel sighed and nodded to Xander. "I'll call later."

"Can't wait," Xander said sarcastically.

After the two vampires left, Xander turned to Jack and Gwen. "Can I get some help?"

Jack shrugged. "Why not?"

After an hour of unpacking, Xander had an idea of where most of his things were going and decided to call it a night. "If you need anything I'm right down the hall," Gwen said, pausing on her way out to pick up a fallen picture. She stared it for a second, looked back at Xander, and then left.

Jack shook Xander's hand and told him he expected in Torchwood by noon. As the man prepared to leave, Xander stopped him. "What is it?"

"Owen," Xander said. "I know why he doesn't like me."

Jack leaned against the doorframe. "Go on."

"It's Gwen."

At this, Jack arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"He used to date Gwen, right?"

Jack seemed to be genuinely astonished by Xander's statement. "How did you know?"

The younger man grinned. "Owen and Rhys both look at me the same way; like I'm going to take something away from them. So I just figured that he and Gwen used to be an item."

Jack smiled. "That's quite astute, Xander. You've got an eye on you."

Xander matched Jack's smile. "Just call me 'The One Who Sees'."

88

Halfway around the planet, in the crater that used to be the town called Sunnydale, a large group of scientists and military officials gathered, going over the remains of the town in an attempt to determine what exactly happened. Amongst them was Major Riley Finn, who was in deep conversation with a General named Lackey. Riley was in the process of informing Lackey that his group, the Demon Research Initiative, had total control over the scene when a black van pulled up and a tall black man in his early forties and young brunette in her early twenties exited.

"Excuse me," Lackey said, breaking away from Riley, "but this is a restricted area."

The man calmly walked into the crater and showed Lackey a badge which Riley could not see from his vantage point. It appeared however, that it was enough to get Lackey to shut up. The general addressed his men and ordered them to vacate the premises on behalf of the United Nations. As the men did as they were told, the black man approached Riley. "Are Major Finn?" he asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Good. My name is Antonio Pope, I work for the Berkut Group. We'd like to ask you some questions about Sunnydale."

The brunette appeared at Pope's side. "I'm sorry," he said, "this is my partner, Jaime. Jaime Sommers."

88

Back in Wales, Xander had barely put his head to the pillow when Gwen burst into his bedroom, fully dressed. "Xander, Jack just called; we have to go."

Xander, who was used to getting very little sleep, immediately sprang up forgetting for the moment that he was clad only in his boxers. Gwen's blush made this fact register. "Sorry," he said, grabbing his pants and pulling them on.

"I'll be out by the car," Gwen said awkwardly.

A few minutes later and the two of them joined the others in Torchwood. "What's up?" Xander asked.

"Something appears to be slipping through the rift," Tosh responded, her brow creased with worry.

"How-"

Before Gwen could finish her question Jack suddenly burst out of his office. "Tosh, where is it?"

"Right above us," the woman replied.

Jack motioned to Martha and Xander. "You two, come with me."

Xander did as he was told, as did Martha. Once the trio reached the outside, Tosh's voice reached their ears. "Whatever it is arriving in three, two, one..."

There was a flash of light that temporarily blinded Xander and then, lying in a spot where there had been nothing before, a blonde woman lay. "Oh my god," Martha let out as Jack raced toward her.

"Owen," he yelled into his headset, "get up here." Xander and Martha reached Jack's side as he turned the mystery woman over. There was a gasp from the Captain and then, "Rose?"


	5. Guilt Trips, Comatose Girls, and a Box

**Author Notes:** So this story is rapidly becoming much more complicated than I'd originally planned and as a result there's going to be an incredible amount of crossovers ahead. Next chapter, I'll try to put up a complete list of the shows, books, and comics that are going to be involved but I may miss some. Also, if there's something you wanna see or don't like let me know. I'm open to suggestions.

**Be Warned This Story is Not Beta Read**

**Pairing:** Xander/Gwen, Jack/Ianto, Owen/Tosh, The Doctor/Rose, Buffy/Angel, Willow/Kennedy, Dawn/Conner, Mickey/Martha, Spike/Illyria, Andrew/Vi

**Summary:** Xander's life changes when he becomes involved with another secret organization: Torchwood.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Doctor Who, Torchwood or their characters. (Although I do wish, I owned Dawn and Gwen.)

**Rating: **R for strong language, some violence, and sexual situations

**Season: **Post "Chosen"/"Not Fade Away"in the Buffyverse; Post "The Last of the Time Lords"/"End of Days" in the Doctor Who worlds

**Category:** Action/Drama/Humor/Romance

**Spoilers:** Basic Knowledge of Doctor Who (2005) and Torchwood as well as all of Buffy and Angel

88

Xander helped an obviously worried Jack carry the young woman into the Hub. "I take it you know her?"

Jack nodded, barely paying any attention as he laid Rose on one of Owen's tables. "I used to travel with her," he explained. "Her and another friend. But she's not supposed to be here. Not anymore."

Owen arrived and shooed them away. He immediately began checking her heartbeat. "Is that who I think it is?" Martha asked Jack, having finally regained her senses.

Jack didn't even look away from Owen and Rose as he said, "Yes. She's Rose Tyler."

88

Xander sat and watched Jack as he slowly cleaned the soot off of Rose's face. "Who is she?" he asked Martha, who was sitting next to him.

"An old friend." Something in the woman's tone told Xander that there was more to the story than that but he said nothing.

Gwen sat down beside them and motioned Xander to follow her. Casting one last look at Martha, Xander followed Gwen over to Tosh's desk where the other Torchwood staff were gathered. "What's up, guys?"

"That girl came from the rift," Owen said quietly. "She's been ripped out of her time and place."

Xander looked over his shoulder at Jack and Rose. "So what?"

"Xander," Gwen said, pulling his eyes back to the group, "Rose being here could cause a lot of problems."

"What sort of problems?"

"Temporal bleeds," Tosh answered. "If she's made it through from her world, then anything else from there could slip through."

Xander suddenly realized what they were saying. "You want to close the connection to her world?"

"Bingo," Owen nodded.

"But she'll have to go back before you can do that?"

"You're on a roll, Harris."

Xander began to ask how he fit into whatever plan they had when Jack appeared behind him, a grim look on his face. "She's in a coma."

Owen sighed. "I'll run some tests tomorrow morning; see what I can find."

Jack smiled sadly in thanks. "In all honesty, it's probably the shock of falling through the rift that sent her into the coma but I appreciate it."

As Jack and the others began talking about Rose's condition, an odd thought struck Xander. He'd seen almost this exact same thing a few days ago; with Angel and Spike. The vampires had appeared out of nowhere and were in deep comas. Comas that were only broken when he'd been alone with them. Deciding to see if his theory was correct, Xander jogged over to the medical bay where Rose lay. Nothing happened at first until Xander remembered Martha, sitting on the steps. "Could you get me some tea, please?" he asked lightly.

Martha shrugged and stood. As soon as she was out of sight, Xander heard a sharp intake of breath and Rose sprang up on the table. "Jack!" Xander yelled. "Jack, get your ass over here!"

Rose, a panicked look on her face, stared hazily at Xander for a few seconds. "Who are you?" she finally spoke.

"I'm Xander."

Further conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Jack, who upon seeing Rose up, looked immediately relived. "Jack!" Rose cried, her face lighting up.

Xander stepped back as the two friends were reunited. "What happened?" Gwen asked, as she and the others arrived on the scene.

Xander, slightly worried over his apparent power over the comatose, shook his head. "No idea."

88

Owen watched the security footage again, still unsure of what he was seeing. "Tell me you see that," he practically begged the man beside him. "Tell me you see what Xander's doing?"

Ianto, who was at a loss for words, merely nodded. A red stream of light, not unlike that which had connected Gwen and Suzie, was pouring from Xander into Rose. It stopped the moment Jack came into view. "What the hell was that?" Owen whispered.

"Perhaps we should ask, Mr. Harris," Ianto suggested.

"Good idea," a new voice said. Ianto and Owen turned and saw Gwen behind them, a confused look on her face. "Let's ask him."

88

When Xander arrived at Torchwood the next morning, the usually busy Hub was still and Jack, Gwen, and the others stood gathered around a computer screen watching something. "Morning, everybody," Xander greeted.

All eyes turned to face him and Xander felt an uneasy sensation in the pit of his stomach. "What?"

"Xander, could you please explain this?" Jack said, turning the screen so that Xander could see it.

Xander watched as, on the screen, he sent a torrent of red energy from himself into Rose. Xander tore his eyes away from the admittedly puzzling footage and looked at his new co-workers. Martha, Tosh, Owen, and Ianto all looked at him with a mixture of fear, confusion, and curiosity; Gwen looked uncertain; and Jack...well, he just stared. There wasn't a single emotion on the man's face except for a fleeting second where he'd almost imperceptibly nodded to Xander with an understanding look on his face, almost as if to say, _'Whatever it is you did, thank you.'_

Realizing several moments had passed, Xander attempted to explain. "Yeah, about that...I'm not really sure what the hell that is."

"You don't know how a stream of red lightcame from your body?"Owen asked, a small smile playing at his lips.

Xander nodded. "That's what I said. The other day, when Angel and Spike first returned, they were comatose. Until I was left alone with them."

"Then this happened?" Tosh questioned, pointing to the video.

"Yeah. Expect, you know, there's no stream when I do it."

Jack looked at the video. "Well, whatever it is you're doing doesn't seem to be harming anyone." He looked back at Xander. "Thanks."

"That's it?" Owen blurted. "He's got some weirdo power and your just gonna let him go with a 'thanks'?"

Jack smiled but Xander saw a hint of danger behind it. "Owen, Xander is one of us now."

The other man relented. "Fine."

"I thought so."

Jack dismissed the group and as they all headed toward their respective desks, Jack motioned Xander to follow him. "Rose wants to thank you," he said as they walked toward Jack's office.

"She doesn't have to," Xander said. "I don't even know what I did."

"Xander," Jack said, laying his hand on the younger man's shoulder, "you saved her life. Of course she wants to thank you, regardless if you had a hunch or did it accidently."

Xander sighed. "All right. Take me to the hot chick who's extremely grateful to me."

"That a boy," Jack laughed.

88

In the following weeks, between alien threats and keeping an eye on the temporal hole that Rose had fallen out of, Xander found himself fitting in better with Torchwood than he'd had in the last five or six years with Buffy and the others. Owen still treated him more or less like an annoying relative, and Tosh still acted a little strange around him, but Ianto, Martha, and Rose quickly became friends and Jack was shaping up to be the male best friend he'd never really had. Best of all, at least to Xander, was that he and Gwen had gotten close.

He now spent most nights heaving dinner with her and Rhys, a fact Rhys didn't seem to like much, and the two would also commute to work together. For the first time since Anya, Xander could honestly saying that he had romantic, 'I-wanna-take-her-out-on-a-date-and-kiss-her-like-there's-no-tomorrow', type feelings for someone. And it scared him. Not only because of Rhys and Owen but also because it felt like a betrayal to Anya, dead not even two years.

Xander was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't even know that Ianto was in the office with him until the coffee appeared before him. "Would you like some?" he asked, his tone giving no clue as to how long he'd been in the room.

"Yeah, thanks." As Ianto began pouring the coffee into Xander's Batman mug, an odd thought struck his mind. "Ianto, do you think you could cover for me while I do something?"

The other man gave him a confused look but said, "Of course."

"Thanks." With barely another word, Xander grabbed his coat and raced out of the Hub.

88

"So you're feeling guilty about your feelings toward Gwen and you thought I would be the best person to talk to about it?"

Xander nearly laughed at the uncomfortable look that crossed Giles' face but held it in. The two were seated in a small restaurant not far from the Council."Basically," he answered.

Giles fidgeted in his seat for a moment and attempted to look anywhere but at Xander. "Well...I suppose it's normal to feel guilt over moving on."

"Really?"

Giles nodded. "Yes, Xander. When...when Jenny died, I felt like I'd never get over it. It was horrible. But then one day I realized I could move one and try again. And that was horrible." Off of Xander's look he added, "But I realized that just because I was moving on, I wasn't forgetting Jenny. I still love her and I always will. But I know that she'd want me to be happy and to find someone new."

The friends sat in silence for a few minutes, each consumed with the memories of past loves. "Thanks, G-Man."

Giles grimaced at the nickname. "You're welcome, Xander."

88

Later that night, Xander sat in his apartment gazing at a picture of him and Anya. It had been taken at their high-school prom and they both looked incredibly happy. As he ran his fingers over Anya's face a strange noise began filling the room. Xander immediately jumped off of his couch and grabbed his cellphone. He began dialing Torchwood's number but stopped at the sight before him.

In the middle of his living room, right where he planned to put some kind of table, stood a tall, blue box.


	6. The Doctor Is In

**Author Notes:** This is the shortest of the chapters I've written and is just sort of a connecting piece to the next part of the story where big things happen and the villains are introduced.

**Be Warned This Story is Not Beta Read**

**Pairing:** Xander/Gwen, Jack/Ianto, Owen/Tosh, The Doctor/Rose, Buffy/Angel, Willow/Kennedy, Dawn/Conner, Mickey/Martha, Spike/Illyria, Andrew/Vi

**Summary:** Xander's life changes when he becomes involved with another secret organization: Torchwood.

**Crossovers**: Torchwood, Doctor Who, Bionic Woman (2007), Heroes, Chuck, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Blade (the movies), Hellblazer, Transformers (the movie), Smallville, Supernatural, Reaper, House, Bloodrayne, Charmed, The L Word, The X-Files, Hellboy (the movie), Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Doctor Who, Torchwood or their characters. (Although I do wish I owned Dawn and Gwen.)

**Rating: **R for strong language, some violence, and sexual situations

**Season: **Post "Chosen"/"Not Fade Away"in the Buffyverse; Post "The Last of the Time Lords"/"End of Days" in the Doctor Who worlds

**Category:** Action/Drama/Humor/Romance

**Spoilers:** Basic Knowledge of Doctor Who (2005) and Torchwood as well as all of Buffy and Angel

88

'_Okay, this is getting ridiculous,' _Xander thought to himself as he watched the door on the 'Police Call Box' open. _'What the hell is going on?'_ Slowly the door opened all the way and a man stuck his head out.

"Alexander Harris?" he asked cautiously.

"Yeah," Xander replied in an equally unsure tone.

A smile suddenly lit up the man's face. "Good! I was afraid I'd gotten the wrong flat number." As he stepped out of the box, Xander took in his appearance; messy hair, dark blue suit, red converse. Whatever he'd been expecting to come out of the box, it certainly wasn't the man before him.

"Can you imagine the shock of me just showing up in some poor saps flat?" the man continued. "He'd have a heart attack."

"I'm kinda leaning toward that myself," Xander pointed out.

The man smacked his forehead. "Oh, right. You still don't know me. Sorry, time travel makes things a bit wacky." He held out his hand. "I'm The Doctor."

Xander couldn't help but arch an eyebrow as he shook The Doctor's hand. "What kind of doctor?"

The man's smile grew larger. "Another clever one! None of that 'Doctor Who' rubbish." Xander gave the man a look. "Right, right! On with the pesky explanation." There was a pause, during which The Doctor seemed to size him up. "How much do you know about time travel?"

88

Gwen made her way to Xander's door, intent on asking him if he wanted to go get something to eat since Rhys was out, when she heard the noise. The same noise she'd heard before Jack had disappeared. Realizing what it meant, she flung the door to the flat open just in time to see what appeared to be a blue phone booth vanishing.

88

Xander looked around the Tardis, amazed at the size and mechanics of the ship. "This is amazing!"

The Doctor grinned. "Knew you'd love it!"

"You're sure you can have me back in a couple of minutes?" After The Doctor had shown the Tardis to Xander, the young man had practically begged the Time Lord to take him somewhere for a quick trip; something that hadn't taken much convincing.

"Of course," The Doctor replied. "It's just a quick little trip. Besides, I need to tell you some things."

"Like what?"

"Like why you can heal people and how Angel and Spike arrived at the Council."

Xander froze in mid-step, giving the Doctor a surprised look. "How did you..."

"Like I said; we need to talk."

88

Gwen rushed into the Hub and was thankful when she saw Jack, Rose, and the others were already there. "Good, Gwen," Jack began, "I was just about to call you and Xander. There's been some strange deaths over..." Jack trailed off. "What's the matter?"

Gwen couldn't help the tears that came to her eyes as she said, "Xander's gone."

"What?" Jack said.

"What do you mean?" Tosh added.

"I went to his flat to see if he wanted to grab something to eat and when I got there...it was the noise, Jack."

"Noise?"

"The one I heard before you vanished."

Jack's face took on a completely different look as he glanced at Rose and Martha. "The Doctor," he said.

The two young women smiled at the memory of their old friend and helped Jack sit Gwen down. "It's okay, Gwen," Rose began, "it really is. Xander's in good hands."

88

"What do you know about Spike and Angel?"

The Doctor, who'd been fiddling around with something on the Tardis, looked up. "You mean Liam Daniel Warnock and William Archibald Pratt?"

Xander couldn't the chuckle that escaped. "Those are their real names?"

The Doctor grinned. "Yeah. And to answer you're question, I've been keeping watch over them for quite a few years."

"How many years is quite a few?"

The Doctor pretended to think about it for a moment. "Roughly...since the beginning."

"You mean since they were born?" When The Doctor nodded, Xander couldn't help the next question. "Why?"

"Because without them, then this world would be in a whole lot of trouble. You see, my people, the Time Lords, have long had a soft spot for the human race. And then, a few centuries back, I find this weird little seer on a far planet called Baslok and she tells me that 'the Human Race will fall.' Now naturally I didn't believe her, she also told me I'd be ginger one day, but since then I've seen things here on Earth, vampires and the like, and been to the future; Xander, if we don't do something the human race will perish."

"How?"

"I'm afraid there's going to be another Time War. This one fought for Earth."

"How do I fit in exactly?"

"You, Torchwood, your friends...you have to help me. Soon, two very evil men will meet and this world will put into the middle of a war that will change everything."

"What do you mean by everything?"

The Tardis, which had been steadily humming throughout the exchange, stopped. "Let me show you," The Doctor said, opening the door. "This is the world if we lose."


	7. The World If We Lose

**Author Notes:** Took me awhile but I finally finished the chapter. There's now a complete crossover list,so check that out.

**Be Warned This Story is Not Beta Read**

**Pairing:** Xander/Gwen, Jack/Ianto, Owen/Tosh, The Doctor/Rose, Buffy/Angel, Willow/Kennedy, Dawn/Conner, Mickey/Martha, Spike/Illyria, Andrew/Vi

**Summary:** Xander's life changes when he becomes involved with another secret organization: Torchwood.

**Crossovers**: Torchwood, Doctor Who, Bionic Woman (2007), Heroes, Chuck, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Blade (the movies), Hellblazer, Transformers (the movie), Smallville, Supernatural, Reaper, House, Bloodrayne, Charmed, The L Word, The X-Files, Hellboy (the movie), Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Doctor Who, Torchwood or their characters. (Although I do wish I owned Dawn and Gwen.)

**Rating: **R for strong language, some violence, and sexual situations

**Season: **Post "Chosen"/"Not Fade Away"in the Buffyverse; Post "The Last of the Time Lords"/"End of Days" in the Doctor Who worlds

**Category:** Action/Drama/Humor/Romance

**Spoilers:** Basic Knowledge of Doctor Who (2005) and Torchwood as well as all of Buffy and Angel

88

Xander followed The Doctor out of the TARDIS and into the streets of what appeared to New York City. Unlike most post-Apocalyptic movies Xander had ever seen there were no barrels of fire, homeless people, or shanty towns. The city seemed to be as it always was. "So this is the end of the world, huh?" Xander quipped. "Not bad."

The Doctor sent Xander a look that chilled his insides. "Manhattan Island is the only demon-free place left on earth. It was somehow spared in the war and left alone by the demons. Thankfully, some humans managed to get on the island and use whatever mystical and scientific methods they could to put a barrier between here and everywhere else."

"So I take it that some demon finally managed to organize the underworld?" Xander asked, as he and The Doctor continued their walk down the street.

"Nope. This was the work of an alien and a human."

"What?"

The Doctor sighed. "In two months, your time, a Time Lord will regenerate on your planet. His name is The Master; he's an incredibly evil individual."

"I know a thing or two about guys who call themselves 'The Master'," Xander muttered.

The Doctor continued as if he hadn't heard Xander. "I thought I had stopped The Master for good but he somehow managed to not only survive but travel back in time to a specific point. Imagine my surprise when on one of my journeys into the future I happen across Earth and discover it's actually worse off than it was before I intervened. All because of the man The Master meets."

"Who?"

"Gabriel Gray. Or, as he is more commonly known, Sylar."

"Sylar?" Xander couldn't quite remember why but he knew that name. "Why does that sound familiar?"

"Serial killer."

Xander snapped his fingers. "That's right! He cuts off the top off people's heads and take their brains, right? I always wondered why."

"For power." When Xander only seemed more confused, The Doctor elaborated. "There are certain individuals who have...unique abilities. Like the X-Men; some can fly, some have super strength. Sylar had the power of intuitive aptitude. He knew how to fix anything he came across. This turned out to be a problem as he started growing power-hungry and eventually killing others like him."

"And somehow using their brains to steal their powers?"

The Doctor stopped walking and looked at Xander in amazement. "How did you know?"

Xander shrugged. "I read a lot of comic books; it's pretty standard super-villain behavior."

The Doctor laughed. "Brilliant! Anyway, he's become dangerously powerful and when he and The Mater meet...it's the beginning of the end."

"Unless we stop it?"

"Exactly."

It was at that exact moment that a jeep full of people came hurdling out of nowhere and skidded to a stop in front of them. Four men jumped out, guns aimed at Xander and the Doctor. "You get this reception a lot?" Xander whispered, after seeing how nonchalantly The Doctor held up his hands.

"More than I like," The Doctor confirmed.

"Who the hell are you?" the closet man asked, his shotgun pointed directly at Xander's chest.

"The Doctor and Xander Harris," The Doctor answered, his tone daring the man to keep the gun pointed at them.

Almost immediately, the man lowered his weapon. "The Doctor?"

"And Xander Harris," the Time Lord clarified.

After a few more tense seconds, the man held out his hand. "Dean Winchester."

The Doctor enthusiastically shook the offered hand. "And they are?" he asked, indicating the men behind Dean.

"That's Tommy and Joe Clark," Dean replied, indicating the two men who were obviously identical twins, "and that's Leo Wyatt."

The Doctor nodded his hello. "So, may we see Torchwood?"

Dean almost seemed to blush. "It's not what it used to be."

"That's alright."

Dean motioned them forward and Xander and The Doctor joined him and Leo in the jeep while the brothers stayed behind. "So Torchwood is still around?" Xander asked.

"In a way, yeah," Leo answered.

"What's that mean?"

"You'll see."

88

Dean drove the jeep into an abandoned parking garage filled with old cars and debris. After parking the car, he got out, checking the surrounding area for apparent booby traps. "It's clear," he said. Leo got out and motioned for Xander and The Doctor to do the same.

"I thought you said there were no demons here?" Xander whispered to the Doctor.

"There aren't."

"Then what was with Dean's little check-up?"

"Oh, that. Things haven't changed that much, Xander. Humans are still killing other humans."

"How nice," Xander muttered.

He followed Dean and Leo into an elevator which almost seemed like it would collapse just at the sight of the four men but it somehow stayed safe and after a few seconds they'd reached the basement. Dean and Leo exited first and as The Doctor and Xander emerged, they could see various humans, and some demons, sitting around fires and eating. It definitely reminded Xander of a post-apocalyptic movie.

"So this is Torchwood, huh?" The Doctor asked, glancing around. "Gotta say, it ain't what it used to be."

"Nothing's what it used to be," Dean replied solemnly.

Eventually, Dean led them to a small run-down security booth which had apparently been turned into an office. "Go on," Dean waved.

Xander and the Doctor entered the booth and were surprised to see Jack, looking exactly as he had when Xander had last seen him, sitting at a desk reading something. "This is a surprise," Jack said, his voice devoid of any emotion.

"Jack," The Doctor nodded.

"Interfering with time again?" the Captain asked, still not looking in Xander's direction.

"In a way, yes."

Jack finally seemed to be interested. "How so?"

"Xander originally dies two months after I found him," The Doctor said.

"What? You didn't tell me that!"

The Doctor glanced at Xander. "I didn't think it was important."

"How could that not be important?"

"Well, if I'm telling you this then you aren't going to die because you'll know what's going to happen!"

"Gentlemen!" The bickering duo turned their attention back to Jack. "Continue, please."

"Right. So as I was saying...Originally, Xander helps form a group of people who do battle against Sylar and the Master; they nearly lose until The Master goes back in time and kills Xander."

"Leading to this," Jack said.

"Exactly. Only I found out about it and went after Xander, so he'd never die. Just showed up a bit early is all..."

"But you're going to take him back?" Jack questioned.

"Of course! I just wanted to bring him here to show what's at stake. Plus, you know, I can never resist showing off."

"Well, I suggest you take him back quickly," Jack said. "Because our shield is getting weaker by the day and right now he's persona non grata with..."

"Jack! Where are you?"

"Her," Jack finished lamely after Gwen's interruption.

"So I should go then?" Xander asked. "Before she-"

At that exact moment the door opened and Gwen walked into Jack's makeshift office. "Oh, crap," Jack muttered.

"You!" she yelled, seeing Xander.

"Me?"

Before anyone could do anything, Gwen slapped Xander across the face as hard as she could. "What the hell?"

"Where the fuck have you been?" Gwen demanded. "You just up and leave, the world goes to hell, and know you're back all of a sudden?"

Xander turned to the Doctor. "This time travel thing's pretty complicated, huh?"

"It can be."

Jack placed himself between Gwen and Xander. "Gwen, Xander was doing some very important reconnaissance for me."

"Where? Why didn't he come back to help us when the demons showed up? How come you never you knew where he was? Wasn't his job to help us stop demons?"

Xander could see how angry Gwen was becoming and tried to say something but the look Jack sent his way killed his words. "Gwen, Xander had to go; if he didn't he would've died."

"Yeah? Well maybe he should've." With one last glance at him, Gwen left.

"What happened to her?"

"When Sylar and the Master joined up with the demons, she held out hope that you would show up," Jack explained. "Tell us what to do. But then the demons killed Tosh and Owen."

"Oh, God."

"She lost her faith for awhile but she stood by you...then one night, Sylar showed up at her house. He forced her to watch as he killed Rhys and then he left her behind to be tortured by some demons he'd brought with him. I managed to save her but...she's never been the same."

Xander collapsed onto a nearby chair. "Poor Gwen..."

"She'll be saved," The Doctor said, resting his hand on Xander's shoulder. "We'll stop this."

"And what if we don't?"

Jack shook his head. "You can't think like that."

Xander was about to say 'thank you' to Jack when there was a sudden explosion and he was knocked backwards by the blast. "Xander!" Although he could hear Jack's yell, Xander couldn't see the man through all of the smoke. He tried to stand but quickly fell, realizing his left leg had a piece of wood going through it.

Gritting his teeth, Xander pulled the piece of wood, and bit down to keep from screaming. "It's him!" Xander didn't know who'd shouted, but the panic in the man's voice was enough to spur him upwards.

The Doctor suddenly appeared by his side and steadied him. "I think it's best that we leave," he said. Xander nodded his agreement. As they began making there way through the rubble of the explosion, Xander began to see people running as the dust cleared; and they all seemed to be running from one man.

He stood in the center of a ring of demons, an evil grin on his face. His eyes, somewhat hidden under his thick eyebrows, were cold and menacing and took every inch of the room in. And stopped on Xander and the Doctor. "There you are," he grinned.

"This is not good," Xander said.

"Agreed."

The man lazily raised his left hand in their direction and Xander felt himself lifted off of the ground and hurled through the air. He came crashing down in the remains of Jack's desk, The Doctor landing nearby. "What the hell?" Xander grunted.

The Doctor stood, grabbing Xander as he did so. "That's Sylar," he explained, nodding at the man who was now watching them with amusement.

Before Xander could respond Sylar rose from the ground and glided over to them. "Alexander Harris," he said, his voice as cold and menacing as his eyes, "just the man I've been looking for."

"Always nice to meet a fan," Xander grinned.

Sylar smirked. "You know, thanks to your disappearance history's played out a lot better for me. I may not have gotten all of the abilities I wanted, but I got to take over the world and kill that annoying bastard The Master." He glanced over at The Doctor. "Were you planning on taking him back? Show him what's at stake, so he can make the tough choices?"

The Doctor nodded. "Something like that."

"Well, you're a fool," Sylar hissed. He waved his hand and once again Xander and The Doctor were sent flying through the air.

Xander grunted as his back was once again slammed into the ground. As Sylar raised his hand again, a young Asian man suddenly appeared behind him. Wasting no time the man struck Sylar from behind, cutting one of his legs off. "Hurry," he yelled at Xander and the Doctor.

As Xander and the Doctor escaped the building, Xander saw, out of the corner of his eye, Sylar's leg began to grow back as he shot a bolt of lighting at the Asian man. After a few minutes of agonizing running, Xander and the Doctor arrived at the TARDIS. "In," the Doctor shouted.

Once inside, the Doctor began furiously twisting and flipping things on the ship. After a minute or so, he finally stopped. "So what now?" he asked, turning to fac Xander.

"Now...we go back and stop this."


	8. A Whole Lot Of Exposition Going On

**Author Notes:**

**Be Warned This Story is Not Beta Read**

**Pairing:** Xander/Gwen, Jack/Ianto, Owen/Tosh, The Doctor/Rose, Buffy/Angel, Willow/Kennedy, Dawn/Conner, Mickey/Martha, Spike/Illyria, Andrew/Vi

**Summary:** Xander's life changes when he becomes involved with another secret organization: Torchwood.

**Crossovers**: Torchwood, Doctor Who, Bionic Woman (2007), Heroes, Chuck, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Blade (the movies), Hellblazer, Transformers (the movie), Smallville, Supernatural, Reaper, House, Bloodrayne, Charmed, The L Word, The X-Files, Hellboy (the movie), Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Doctor Who, Torchwood or their characters. (Although I do wish I owned Dawn and Gwen.)

**Rating: **R for strong language, some violence, and sexual situations

**Season: **Post "Chosen"/"Not Fade Away"in the Buffyverse; Post "The Last of the Time Lords"/"End of Days" in the Doctor Who worlds

**Category:** Action/Drama/Humor/Romance

**Spoilers:** Basic Knowledge of Doctor Who (2005) and Torchwood as well as all of Buffy and Angel

88

Xander winced as Ianto dressed the wound on thigh. "Easy there, sport," Xander grunted.

Ianto gave him a look but kept his mouth shut. He glanced over his shoulder at The Doctor, who stood off to the side examining some device on Owen's desk with a pair of 3-D glasses. "Who is he again?" Ianto asked quietly.

"A friend," Xander answered, enjoying getting to be the cryptic one for a change.

"So, how far off was I on getting Xander here, back?" The Doctor spoke.

"He's been gone for almost three weeks," Ianto replied.

"Three weeks?" Xander repeated.

"So I was a bit off," The Doctor shrugged. "Still got you back in time."

Suddenly the door to the Hub opened and Jack entered with Gwen and the others behind him. "Xander?" Gwen said in disbelief.

"Doctor?" Jack, Martha, and Rose smiled in unison.

The Doctor grinned and held open his arms, Jack and the girls running into them. "I'm okay by the way," Xander muttered. "Just an injured leg."

Gwen appeared next to him and enveloped him in a hug. "Owen will get working on it, won't you?" she said, giving the doctor a look that dared him to disagree.

"Of course," Owen replied, forcing a smile.

"When did you two get back?" Jack asked, ruffling Xander's hair.

"About an hour ago."

"I think the real question is when did you go," Rose corrected.

"What the hell does that mean?" Owen asked, clearly confused.

"Long story," Jack waved off.

"Time traveler," The Doctor said, raising his hand. "Time machine." He pointed to the TARDIS. "Took Xander for a ride."

"Maybe not that long," Jack amended.

"Speaking of which," Xander interrupted as he struggled to his feet, "we have to talk."

88

Jack leaned back in his chair, Xander's recap of his adventure with The Doctor finished. "That's not good," he muttered.

"Yeah, you're telling me."

Jack pressed a button on his desk and Ianto entered the office. "Ianto, I'd like you to get in touch with my contact at the FBI, see if you can find anything on a Sylar."

"Yes, sir."

As soon as Ianto left, Jack turned back to Xander. "The Master, huh?"

Xander nodded. "That's what The Doctor called him."

"Did you see him? It'll be a lot easier to track him down if we know what his new regeneration looks like."

"No such luck. I think I heard Sylar mention killing him."

Jack sighed, running his hands through his fingers. "Well, there's not much we can do now. Go home and get some rest."

"I like the sound of that," Xander smiled.

88

After Gwen dropped him off at their building, Xander hobbled into his apartment with the hope of a long shower and an even longer sleep ahead of him. That is until he heard, "What happened to you, then?"

Xander stopped dead in his tracks at the sound of the accented voice. "What the hell are you doing here?" he asked through gritted teeth, not bothering to turn around.

"Do you have any idea how boring the Council is?" his uninvited guest asked. "If there's a demon that needs taking care of or an apocalypse that needs to be averted there's thousands of Slayers to deal with it! I haven't gotten into a fight in weeks."

"How is that my problem?" Xander sighed, collapsing onto the couch to save his injured leg from standing any longer.

"Well, that Torchwood place looked interesting."

Xander finally faced the man behind him. "No."

"No? You don't even know what I'm going to say!"

"Yes, I do. And the answer is no; I'm not asking if you can join!"

"And why the hell not? We make a good team!"

"Because I hate you!"

"So? Never stopped you before."

"Because you have no place to stay," Xander tried.

"What about here? Wouldn't be the first time we've lived together."

Xander rose from the couch and limped over to look him in the eyes. "Why do you really wanna join Torchwood?"

A sigh. "Buffy and Peaches got back together."

Xander paused. He knew what it was like to be in love with Buffy and have to watch her be lovey-dovey with Deadboy. "Fine. But you have to find your own place eventually."

Spike grinned. "I knew you'd see it my way." He patted Xander on the back. "I need to use the john."

Xander attempted to cut him off so he could take a shower, but the vampire was too quick. Xander grimaced as he sat back down, trying not to think of how horrible living with Spike again would be. "Harris," Spike's voice came. "Just out of curiosity, what the hell is the blue thing in your living room?"

88

The next morning when Xander arrived at Torchwood, he made a beeline straight for Jack's office. "Xander," the Captain grinned, "what's up?"

"I need a favor; a big one."

Jack arched an eyebrow. "Really? What would this favor entail exactly?"

"Giving someone a job here at Torchwood," Xander rushed his words out.

Jack leaned back in his chair, his face unreadable. "You do know, where not in the business of just handing out jobs, right? We're supposed to be a secret."

"It's Spike."

"The vampire?"

Xander nodded. "He's growing bored with things over where I used to work and he wants in." Xander could see the indecision on Jack's face. "He can help me with the whole 'demon' thing. I mean, he has been around them a lot longer than I have."

Jack cracked his knuckles softly and warily glanced at Xander. "You vouch for him?"

"As much as a person can vouch for someone they hate."

Jack chuckled. "Alright. Tell him he's in." He pointed a finger at Xander. "But you have to keep him in line."

Xander smiled. _'That shouldn't be hard at all,' _he thought to himself sarcastically. As he made his way out of Jack's office, The Doctor suddenly appeared by his side. "How's the TARDIS?"

"Great."

The Doctor nodded. "I thought she'd be safe at your place." He glanced around to make sure that they were alone before adding, "We never finished our conversation. The one we were having on the TARDIS?"

"I'm kinda feeling like I need some fresh air," Xander replied. "Care to join me?"

88

"I've been making sure things go our way for a very long time," The Doctor said. He and Xander were now out, walking the streets of Cardiff. "I had to make sure that Angel would keep his soul and that Spike would get his, not an easy task mind you, while simultaneously intervening on behalf of you and some key others when it looked as if you were all going to die."

"You've been busy then," Xander said.

"With just you," The Doctor said, shaking his head. "You put yourself in harm's way more than any individual I've ever met. And I've known some reckless ones."

Xander shrugged, unsure of what to say. "What about...you know, the whole waking the comatose thing?"

"That?" The Doctor smiled. "That's a little overspill from your kiss with Jack."

Xander nearly fell, he tripped so hard. "Wh-what? I've never...me and Jack haven't..."

"You weren't awake at the time," The Doctor clarified. "It was right after your run-in with the Weevil."

"I'm not sure I understand. Or that I want to."

"You see, Jack's immortal. Can't die. Basically, the man has so much life energy in him that nothing can keep him down. If he kisses someone and focuses, that energy transfers from one person to another, healing that person. When Jack kissed you after the Weevil attack, somehow some residual energy stuck around. You can't heal anyone with your kiss or anything like that but if your alone with someone, and their comatose, that person will awaken immediately. Trust me, it's a handy little trick."

Xander, still uncomfortable at the thought of Jack kissing him, just nodded. The Doctor smiled. "I think we should get back now."

"Why?"

"Because we don't want to be late."

Although he didn't know what the Doctor was talking about Xander followed. After all, when a Time Lord told you not to be late you weren't.

88

When Xander and the Doctor returned to the Hub, there was a stunningly beautiful blonde standing in the middle of the room talking with Jack. "Who's that?" Xander asked.

"Sarah Walker." Xander nearly jumped at the sound of Owen's voice coming from behind him. "She's with the CIA."

"CIA?" Xander repeated. "What the hell is she doing here?"

"That's the question of the hour, isn't it?"

Xander watched as Jack and Sarah continued to talk, both of them seemingly engrossed in their conversation and oblivious to the others watching them. "Why can't I hear them?"

"Jack used one of these," Owen said, holding up a silver device that looked remarkably like a remote control. "It's like a force field," Owen continued, "protects you from eavesdroppers."

"That's handy," Xander muttered.

Finally, Jack's conversation with Sarah appeared to end. Jack pulled out a second silver device and pressed a button; almost immediately, the air around them shimmered blue and their voices suddenly could be heard. "Thank you," Jack was saying. "I appreciate it."

"Just so long as you realize how many rules I'm breaking doing this," Sarah responded a half-smile on her face.

"That's half the fun," Jack replied as the two walked over to Xander and the Doctor. "Xander, this is Sarah Walker," Jack introduced. "She's agreed to help us with our little problem."

"Really? How?"

"There are several agencies searching for Mr. Gray," Sarah explained. "Even with all the resources we have at our disposal we can still never seem to locate him. But I'm sure Jack here will have better luck."She winked as she walked out of the hub.

"Who's Mr. Gray?" Owen asked.

"You'll find out soon enough," Jack half-answered as he walked off.

"What the fuck does that mean?"

88

Riley looked at his watch, hoping he could get there in time. He glanced over at Graham and the others, who were all busy cleaning or re-cleaning their weapons. _'Nerves,' _Riley thought to himself. He couldn't blame them; he was more than a little nervous himself. But after what the Berkut Group had told him...he didn't have a choice. "Are you sure about this?" Graham questioned as he sat next to Riley.

"Absolutely," he responded. "It's the only way."

Graham snorted. "You do realize that this is a suicide mission though?"

"Yeah...yeah, I do."

"And you're okay with that?"

"No," Riley snapped. "I'm not okay with sending these men to what could be their deaths! But it's the only way."

"So everybody keeps saying," Graham muttered, getting up and moving to the back of the plane.

Riley tried to calm himself but found he was unable to. After all, this wasn't an ordinary mission; he was being sent to make first contact with an alien. An alien that could very possibly destroy mankind. _'I hate my job sometimes.'_

88

Jack stood at the head of the table, looking over the file Sarah had given him the day before. Xander shifted nervously in his seat and glanced at Gwen, who was sitting across from him, and noticed that in between sips of her coffee, she was sending worried glances to his right; where Spike sat. No one had been particularly happy when at the start of the meeting Jack had announced Spike as Torchwood's latest recruit. So much so, that only Xander and the Doctor sat on the same side of the table as the vampire.

Gwen, Owen, Tosh, Ianto, Martha, and Rose had all huddled together on the other side of the table; something Spike took great delight in. The lights dimmed and Jack turned on his projector. "We have a serious problem," Jack began, "with this man." The projector displayed an image of a man in his mid-twenties, hair fastidiously combed to one side and wearing thick black rimmed glasses, dressed in slacks and an argyle sweater. Although he looked vastly different then when Xander had seen him there was no mistaking Sylar.

"Him?" Owen scoffed. "What's the big deal with him? Rouge librarian or something?"

"Or something," Jack smiled grimly. "Try serial killer."

"What?" Tosh breathed.

"As disturbing as that is," Owen spoke, cutting off Tosh, "how is he our problem?" Xander noticed apprehension settling into Owen's face as he stared at Sylar's picture.

"Because of what he can do," Jack answered. "This man, Gabriel Gray, has an ability. His DNA is uniquely coded; he has what's described as an 'intuitive aptitude' or in simple terms, an ability to know how everything works."

"So he can what...fix stuff?" Rose asked.

"Yes. He was a watchmaker," Jack said. "But he can also do much more; if shown the DNA of a person with cancer, he would know how to manipulate the person's cells to eradicate the cancer."

"He could cure cancer?" Tosh spoke, breathless.

Jack nodded. "Sadly, Mr. Gray isn't into saving the world; he's into destroying it. Gabriel is not the only one with a special gift; according to a document provided by the Primatech Company, nearly one million people have abilities and they range from things like understanding all languages to being able to read the thoughts of others."

"Amazing."

"Isn't it?" The Doctor smiled at Tosh.

"Where does he fit into this?" Martha asked, nodding at Sylar's picture.

"He was the first one discovered by a Dr. Chandra Suresh. Unfortunately, Suresh was unable to discover Gabriel's ability and sent him away." Jack paused, looking over his notes. "According to Sarah's file, Gabriel had extremely low self-esteem and confidence due to pressure from his parents and cruel classmates. Suresh raised his hopes and then destroyed them, apparently finally breaking Gabriel's already battered psyche. He discovered the name of a man, Brian Davis, whom Suresh suspected of being telekinetic.

He secretly met with Davis and killed the man. When police found the body, his head had been bashed in and his brain was missing." A gory picture of Brian Davis was displayed by the projector. "To this day, no one is sure what Gray did with the brain of Davis, or any of his victims for that matter, but he was somehow able to use said brain to gain the ability of telekinesis. He then began calling himself Sylar and using Suresh's research to find others with abilities."

"Jesus," Owen whispered as a more recent photo of Sylar, who had ditched the glasses and was unshaven with messy hair, filled the screen.

Jack began speaking again. "Since Davis, he's acquired more powers; a man named David Howard, who could freeze objects with his touch; Jennifer Calsone who had the ability to heal quickly from most non-fatal wounds; James Walker, who had the ability to blend in with his environment effectively becoming invisible to all but the most keen sighted; Charlene Andrews who had an eidetic memory; Zane Taylor who could melt objects with his touch; Dale Smither who had super-hearing; Isaac Mendez, who could paint the future; Theodore Sprague, who could create a nuclear or electromagnetic blast from his own body; and Candice Wilmer who could create illusions and make people see what she wanted them to see."

Jack turned of the projector and faced the group, a solemn look on his face. "In five weeks, this man ends the world."


	9. Personal Day

**Author Notes:** I got a request to put the "Bones" crew into the story so I'll work on fitting them in. And remember to review, it's the lifeblood of a writer.

**Be Warned This Story is Not Beta Read**

**Pairing:** Xander/Gwen, Jack/Ianto, Owen/Tosh, The Doctor/Rose, Buffy/Angel, Willow/Kennedy, Dawn/Conner, Mickey/Martha, Spike/Illyria, Andrew/Vi

**Summary:** Xander's life changes when he becomes involved with another secret organization: Torchwood.

**Crossovers**: Torchwood, Doctor Who, Heroes, Chuck, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Blade (the movies), Hellblazer, Transformers (the movie), Smallville, Supernatural, Reaper, House, Bloodrayne, Charmed, The L Word, The X-Files, Hellboy (the movie), Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter, Bionic Woman (2007), Bones

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Doctor Who, Torchwood or their characters. (Although I do wish I owned Dawn and Gwen.)

**Rating: **R for strong language, some violence, and sexual situations

**Season: **Post "Chosen"/"Not Fade Away"in the Buffyverse; Post "The Last of the Time Lords"/"End of Days" in the Doctor Who worlds

**Category:** Action/Drama/Humor/Romance

**Spoilers:** Basic Knowledge of Doctor Who (2005) and Torchwood as well as all of Buffy and Angel

88

A tired Xander entered his apartment, Spike and the Doctor trailing behind. "Do you think we'll actually get to Sylar before it's too late?" Spike asked.

"Who knows," Xander shrugged. "I hope we do but according to The Doctor, time is a funny thing."

The Doctor nodded. "As of right now, we're in the middle of a completely different time line then the one me and Xander visited earlier. If I were to travel forward to see how this all turns out again, I'd change things a third time when I came back."

"So...I don't know, then?" Spike said.

As Spike and the Doctor continued their conversation, Xander made his way into his bedroom where he collapsed onto the bed. Almost as soon as he was asleep, The Doctor was in his room. "Jack called," the Time Lord spoke. "We have a situation."

"Don't we always?" Xander grunted as he jumped out of bed, not even bothering to change his clothes. Ten minutes later, he stood in the Hub with the others. "What's up?"

"I just got off the phone with a man who may be able to help us," Jack said. "His name's Mohinder Suresh; he's the son of the geneticist who found Sylar. He has a young girl in his care named Molly Walker who should be able to locate him. He's gonna call back any minute."

Xander flopped onto a nearby chair, exhaustion nearly claiming him right then. "You alright?" Owen asked, sliding up in a chair next to him.

"I haven't slept in three days," Xander replied. "I feel dead."

Owen nodded. "Know that feeling." There was an awkward pause and then, "She's engaged."

Xander turned to look at Owen. "What?"

"Gwen," the man clarified. "Rhys proposed. I heard her telling Rose and Tosh."

"Oh."

"Just thought you should know," Owen explained. "Don't think of this as a bonding experience cause it isn't."

Xander smiled. "I love you, too."

The moment was broken by a ringing phone. Almost immediately, Jack had answered. After a quick and quiet conversation, Jack faced the team. "Molly found him. He was in Japan."

"Was?" Martha repeated.

"According to Mohinder, Molly managed to locate him at an airport in Tokyo. He's on the move."

"Where to?"

Jack looked grim. "London."

88

Bela Talbot was glad to be back home. She had nothing against America but whenever she was there she could never seem to get away from the ever-present Winchester brothers. Almost immediately upon her return she'd set up a meeting with an old acquaintance who had told her he'd be able to get a rare, and therefore valuable, necklace to fence.

Standing outside his house, she couldn't help but wonder if she should've turned his offer down. Something about the place screamed danger. Shrugging it off, she entered, the worry returning at how easily the door opened. "Karl?" she called out. After a few seconds of silence she heard a moan. Running to the kitchen, where the noise had come from, she saw Anna, Karl's wife, lying in a puddle of blood. Further inspection revealed that the blood didn't even belong to Anna, who's legs appeared to be frozen.

"Anna?" Bela gasped, willing herself to rush to the woman's side. It wasn't in her nature to do this kind of thing but Karl and Anna had helped when she first entered the world of the paranormal and had been like surrogate parents to her.

Anna appeared to be attempting to say something but before she could get it out, Karl's body flew through the doorway, landing in a heap on the floor. Bela covered her mouth and hid behind the refrigerator as a man dressed in all black walked into view.

"I have friends," Karl said weakly. "They'll go looking for you."

The man smiled and raised his left hand lazily, his pointer finger directed at Karl's forehead. "Let 'em."

88

Rupert Giles had just finished a long and expansive report on the recent Apocalyptic threat that had been squashed when a winded Andrew came running into his office. "Giles...we have, a situation..." the young Watcher-in-training panted.

"What is it?" Giles sighed, knowing how Andrew tended to blow things out of proportion.

"Karl's dead."

Giles jumped up. "What? Are you sure?"

Andrew nodded. "The charms around his house have been going off for twenty minutes."

Giles grabbed his coat. "Let's go." As he and Andrew hurridely left the Council, with Vi who seemed to be sticking to Andrew like glue lately, Giles tried to think of who would kill Karl Mason. The man had led an interesting life before joining the Council as a linguistics expert. Giles had met Karl during his 'Ripper' days and had never in his life met someone with a better understanding of languages; it was an extraordinary gift that Karl himself didn't understand.

Giles was snapped out of reverie when Andrew pulled up to Karl's house. Without a word to his companions, Giles hopped out of the car. "Stay here," he ordered, ignoring Vi's protests.

Slowly, he eased the door open, hoping that whatever had killed Karl was gone. Giles reached into his jacket and slid out the dagger he always carried with him. The house was eerily quiet and there were no lights on. As he made his way into the kitchen, the smell of blood filled Giles' nostrils. "Oh, God."

Karl's body lay before him, the top of his head cut off. "What did this?" Giles whispered to himself.

"I think I can answer that," a female voice said.

Giles whirled around to face a brunette, in her mid-twenties, who has suddenly appeared with her hands up. "Who are you?"

"My name's Bela Talbot."

Giles grimaced. He'd heard of her; a supernatural black-market dealer with very little morals. Despite this, Giles put his knife away knowing from what he heard that Bela would never kill Karl and was more than likely the one who'd set off the charms. "How much?"

"Excuse me?"

"How much for your help?" Giles asked, his weariness setting in. "If you really are Bela Talbot then I know you want give me the information I want for free."

Bela smiled and glanced over at Karl's body. "I want in."

It was Giles' turn to be confused. "What?"

"I want to help kill the bastard that did this. Agreed?"

Giles nodded. "Alright."

Bela walked over to the counter and leaned against it as if she owned the house and there wasn't a corpse in the middle of the floor. "First things first; how many Slayers do you have in that Council of yours?"

Giles wasn't surprised she knew he was a Watcher. "Enough."

Bela grinned again. "I wouldn't be too sure about that."

88

Xander sat in his office, attempting to make it look like his attention wasn't focused on Gwen who sat with Tosh and Martha showing off her ring. "You got it bad, Droopy," Spike said, waltzing inside.

"Spike," Xander greeted through gritted teeth, "why don't you turn around and leave?"

Spike smiled and flopped down on a chair. "And what? Miss you staring at Gwen longingly? I think not."

"I'm not staring at Gwen," Xander protested. "I'm reading." He shook the newspaper in his hands for emphasis.

"Harris, you've been reading the same bloody sentence for the past hour," Spike chuckled.

Xander faltered before stuttering out, "It's a well constructed sentence."

"I'm sure." Spike looked over his shoulder, throwing his feet up on the desk as he did so, and watched Gwen. "Why don't you go for it?"

"Because she's engaged and I, unlike you, have morals."

Spike shrugged off Xander's 'morals' comment and said, "C'mon mate. That Rhys bloke is a bleedin' poofter and you know it. And so does our little Gwyneth; you can see it in her eyes, she's settling."

Xander looked out at Gwen, still talking with the girls. "You think?"

Spike nodded. "I've been around the block, Harris. That girl is extremely worried about spending the rest of her life with Rhys." Spike shuddered as he said the name. "Who wouldn't be though? Why do you think she was shagging Owen? His sparkling personality?"

Xander eyed the vampire warily. "I can't believe I'm actually listening to this. And that it's making sense."

Spike leaned back in his chair triumphantly. "There you have it. Now, go grab her and bang her down by the Weevil cages."

Xander stood. "I think I will. Minus, the sex by the Weevils thing."

"Suit yourself."

As Xander headed out however, Spike called his name. "What?" he asked, annoyed.

"Did you see this?"

Xander turned to see Spike holding up the newspaper. "Yes, I was reading it, remember?"

Spike rolled his eyes. "This, Harris!" The vampire stuck the paper under Xander's nose so that he could read the headline, 'MAN FOUND DECAPITATED: Brain Believed Missing.'

"Oh, shit."

88

Giles and Bela stood to the side, waiting for the police to leave. Although they had called the police last night, they still were at Karl's house in part because of the overwhelming presence of the press, who had flocked to the house once it was discovered the Karl's death matched the M.O. of a serial killer wanted by several American law agencies.

"Shall we?" Bela asked, smirking up at Giles.

"Let's go," the elder man replied, moving forward. The police attempted to block their entrance but Giles flashed his fake Interpol badge, given to him by Andrew, and they allowed him in.

"It looks different in the day," Bela commented, looking around the house. Giles, desperate to get away from the woman, asked her check up on the status of Anna, who'd been taken to a nearby hospital earlier.

As soon as Bela had cornered an officer, Giles began his search for any mystical amulets or trinkets that may have aided the killer whom the press had said was called "Sylar". He was in the middle of checking the cabinets when Bela rejoined him. "She's going to lose her legs," she said, her voice shaky and her face paler than usual.

"But otherwise?"

"She should be fine."

"That's good." Giles resumed his search, Bela quietly joining him. After a few more minutes, Giles heard a commotion at the door and heard an American voice say, "Torchwood."

Two officers entered the room and motioned to Giles and Bela. "You two, out now."

Bela crossed her arms, a defiant look on her pretty face. "Excuse me, but my partner and I have not concluded our search."

The first officer shrugged. "Not our problem. Torchwood's running the show now."

Bela appeared ready to continue arguing but Giles grabbed her arm and motioned her forward. "We're leaving," he said calmly.

"What?" Bela snapped.

Giles quieted her and gave a pleading look. To her credit, Bela caught on and went with the flow. On his way out, Giles saw a young man an Asian woman scanning the place with glowing devices while a man dressed in vintage clothes stood off to the side talking with-"Spike?" Giles whispered.

"What?" Bela said quietly.

"Nothing." It at least answered the question of where the vampire had disappeared to. After exiting the house Giles caught sight of Xander and a young woman talking with several officers. From the way Xander threw glances at the woman, he guessed she was Gwen. Giles stopped walking and grabbed a pebble from the garden.

"What are you doing?" Bela questioned.

Giles ignored her and threw the rock at Xander. It bounced of the man's shoulder and had the desired affect of drawing his attention their way. Giles locked eyes with the younger man and motioned down the street toward a nearby café. Xander nodded in understanding and held up five fingers.

As Giles turned away, Bela began questioning him. "Listen," he said, cutting her off, "if you play your cards right that man I hit with the rock will help us stop this 'Sylar'."

Bela snorted. "If you say so."

"Well, I do." _'At least I hope he'll help.'_

88

Twenty minutes later, Xander entered the café and made his way to the table where Giles and Bela sat. "Sorry, I'm late," he apologized. "I had a hard time ditching Spike." He glanced over at Bela. "Who's she?"

"Bela Talbot," she greeted, eyeing Xander.

"Bela's a...freelancer," Giles explained.

"Excellent," Xander smiled sarcastically.

Bela appeared to be ready with a comeback but Giles cut her off. "I'll make this quick; the victim was a friend of both Bela and I and was a fairly well known linguist. We're both interested in finding this 'Sylar'."

Xander shook his head. "No. I'm sorry G-man but this one goes over the council."

"Over the council?" Giles repeated. "What the hell does that mean?"

"I think it means he won't help," Bela interjected.

"Listen," Xander sighed, "Sylar is dangerous. He's not like anybody we've come across before, with maybe the exception of Glory."

"Then you should want all the help you can get," Giles protested.

Xander rubbed his face. "Three weeks."

"What?"

"Just give me three weeks; if we haven't caught him by then, I'll definitely need all the help I can get. But for right now..." He looked directly in Giles' eyes. "It's too dangerous. I don't want to see you get hurt."

The irony of Xander telling Giles 'no' was not lost as the elder man said, "You promise?"

"Of course."

"This is bollocks," Bela said.

"This is the way it is," Xander shot back as he stood. "I'll talk to you in three weeks, one way or the other." And then he left.

88

"What was that all bout?" Jack asked, as Xander exited the café.

"Giles...he was friends with the guy who was killed."

Jack glanced back and said, "But you told him he couldn't help, right? I mean letting him know where you are is one thing but..."

"Yeah, I know," Xander said, his voice reflecting the anger he felt at having to lie to Giles.

Jack placed a reassuring hand on Xander's shoulder. "I know it's tough but it's for the best."

"If you say so."

The ride back to Torchwood was uncomfortable. Jack still hadn't ordered a second car and because of that, Xander found himself in the back uncomfortably close to Spike and Gwen, while Jack and Tosh rode in relative comfort in the front; add to the fact that Xander was still a little miffed at Jack, and it was a very uncomfortable twenty minutes. Finally, the group arrived back at the Hub and immediately scattered. Xander had barely sat behind his desk when Gwen walked in.

"Hey," he greeted. "What's up?"

Gwen sat across from him, her body language telling Xander she was nervous. "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Of course."

"It's about me and Rhys."

Xander's heart skipped a beat. "Yeah."

"I said 'yes' when he proposed but...I don't think I love him like that anymore."

Xander tried to keep his face impassive as he said, "Why?"

Gwen blushed as she said, "Ever since I started working here, we've drifted apart. And I know I still love him but I'm not 'in love' with him." She looked at Xander, her eyes pleading with him to understand. "Cause I think...I think I'm love with Jack."

Xander's heart nearly stopped at those words and he again tried to keep his emotions off his face. "What?"

"I know it makes me a horrible person but...I can't help the way I feel, you know?"

Xander chuckled, although there was no joy in his laugh. "Yeah...I know."

"So, what should I do?"

Xander looked at Gwen, and although for the briefest of moments he thought of telling her to do nothing, he decided to give her genuine advice. "Tell him."

"Tell him?" Gwen repeated incredulously. "You want me to tell Rhys I don't love him?"

"It's not fair to him, Gwen," Xander replied. "It's the right thing and you know it. And then, when that's done tell Jack how you feel. Even if he doesn't feel the same way, you'll feel a lot better knowing you tried."

Gwen smiled and took his hand. "Thanks."

Xander matched her smile, even as inside he felt like throwing up. "No problem."

88

Spike lit his cigarette and watched the rain fall. The storm had come from nowhere and everyone was huddle inside the Hub, worried about getting wet. He stood in the shop above Torchwood, inhaling the sweet smoke when Xander exited the Hub. "What's up, Harris?" he asked, wondering of they were going home.

Xander sent him a dirty look but begrudgingly said, "Gwen."

Spike rolled his eyes. "What now, Droopy?"

Xander started patting his jacket for his keys as he said, "You were right. She doesn't love Rhys."

Spike grinned. "See? What did I tell you? So, what's the problem then?"

"The problem is that she's in love with Jack," Xander nearly shouted.

"Oh." Spike winced. "Bad luck on that."

"Ya think?"

Spike debated with himself for a few minutes until his conscience won out and he said, "Do you wanna grab a pint?" Xander looked at him. "I'm buying." Spike neglected to mention that he'd actually stolen the money from Tosh but didn't see how that was necessary information.

"Yeah...alright. I could use a drink."

Spike put his cigarette and smiled. "That's the spirit! We'll get you a nice bird to shag." The unlikely duo then set off into the rain together.

88

Bela watched as Giles' friend, Xander, and a blonde man in a leather jacket she recognized as William the Bloody exited the shop. _'Tell me Sylar's too dangerous,' _Bela thought to herself. _'We'll see about that.' _She started her car and followed the two men.

88

As soon as he painted the last piece of the canvas in front of him, he snapped out of his trance. Quickly, his eyes took in the picture. a one-eyed man holding a sword in front of him; a blue box in the background; dozens of bodies littering the floor; dozens more fighting what could only be described as monsters; and he saw himself, floating high above everyone else, his hands glowing. _'So this is the future?' _He looked to the other painting he'd done where he stood triumphantly over the one-eyed man's body. _'I could live with that,'_ Sylar smirked.


	10. Meet Sylar

**Author Notes: **Sorry for the wait, had some trouble with my computer. Anyway, more crossovers have been added and there's a little bit of action in here which I'm not too good at writing.

**Be Warned This Story is Not Beta Read**

**Pairing:** Xander/Gwen, Jack/Ianto, Owen/Tosh, The Doctor/Rose, Buffy/Angel, Willow/Kennedy, Dawn/Conner, Mickey/Martha, Spike/Illyria, Andrew/Vi

**Summary:** Xander's life changes when he becomes involved with another secret organization: Torchwood.

**Crossovers**: Torchwood, Doctor Who, Heroes, Chuck, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Blade (the movies), Hellblazer, Transformers (the movie), Smallville, Supernatural, Reaper, House, Bloodrayne, Charmed, The L Word, The X-Files, Hellboy (the movie), Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter, Bionic Woman (2007), Bones, Friday Night Lights, Nip/Tuck, Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles, Lost, Alias

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Doctor Who, Torchwood or their characters. (Although I do wish I owned Dawn and Gwen.)

**Rating: **R for strong language, some violence, and sexual situations

**Season: **Post "Chosen"/"Not Fade Away"in the Buffyverse; Post "The Last of the Time Lords"/"End of Days" in the Doctor Who worlds

**Category:** Action/Drama/Humor/Romance

**Spoilers:** Basic Knowledge of Doctor Who (2005) and Torchwood as well as all of Buffy and Angel

88

Riley Finn winced as he watched the scientist prod the alien again. "Don't you think this is a little heartless?" Graham asked.

Riley looked to Graham, whose arm was in a sling and head swathed in bandages. "No," Riley said, ignoring the creature's screams. "Not after what he did to my men."

"You mean self-defense?" Graham shot back.

"Gentlemen." Riley and Graham turned to General Arnold Jenkins. "Is there a problem?"

"No, sir," the soldiers replied in unison.

"Good," Jenkins nodded. "Then I'd like to introduce you to the man funding this project." As Jenkins spoke the door behind him opened and a bald man in his late twenties entered. "Gentlemen, met Lex Luthor."

88

Not for the first time, Xander found himself wishing he lived alone. Spike was still sleeping on his couch and The Doctor and Rose were both staying in the TARDIS, which for some reason was still standing in his living room. Because of this Xander was forced to retreat to his bedroom in order to finally wallow in his misery all by himself. After an hour of drinking, Xander stumbled out into his living room where Spike lay sleeping and the TARDIS sat quietly. Xander made his way over to the fridge, attempting to find more alcohol, when he suddenly felt a gun in his neck.

"Shit," Xander cursed.

"Hello, again," a female voice greeted.

Xander turned and squinted in the darkness. "Bela?"

"Xander," the woman replied merrily.

"What do you want?"

"I want to know everything you have on Sylar."

"No."

"Well, I could always kill you," Bela smiled insincerely.

"You won't do that," Xander said, suddenly very sober.

"And why not? You're in no position to do anything."

"I'm not," Xander agreed. "But he is."

Bela barely had time to register Xander's words before Spike punched her.

88

Xander stood in his living room, now with all the lights on, with Spike, the Doctor, and Rose by him as Bela began to wake. She was tied to a chair using an 'indestructible binding coil', or rope as Spike had called it, that the Doctor had in the TARDIS. "Who is she?" Rose asked.

"Her name's Bela," Xander said, "she was with my friend Giles earlier at the murder site."

"Clearly, she didn't agree with the whole 'stay away' concept," The Doctor muttered.

Bela began to stir and Xander noticed Spike looking her up and down. "Down, Fang," Xander warned.

"What?" Spike asked, feigning innocence.

Bela slowly opened her eyes and seemed momentarily confused when she saw Xander and the others standing around here. "Hello," Xander greeted, his voice filled with faux-cheer.

"Which one of you sucker-punched me?" Bela asked, rotating her jaw.

"That would be me," Spike said proudly.

A brief look of shock crossed her face but she covered it up so quickly that Xander couldn't be sure it had ever been there. "William the bloody?" she said, her voice not filled with the usual anger or awe but rather amusement. "Aren't you neutered?"

The look on Spike's face made Xander chuckle but then he remembered the situation he was in and gathered himself. "Is there anything you'd like to say?"

"William punches like a girl?"

Xander heard Spike mutter something about 'knocking the bint out' and chose to ignore it. "Bela, you break into my house, hold a gun to my head, and threaten my life; that's not very nice."

"Neither is holding someone hostage," she shot back.

Xander shrugged. "Why is catching Sylar so important to you?"

"I told you -"

"You're lying," the Doctor cut in. "I can tell. You don't care about this Karl person or his wife."

"That's not true," Bela protested.

"I trust him more than you," Xander said. "So why don't we try this again, why is finding Sylar so important to you?"

Bela seemed to debate whether or not to tell the truth. Finally, after realizing how deep she actually was, she relented. "He took something."

Xander smiled. "Now where getting somewhere; What did he take?"

Bela sighed. "A book. It was fairly valuable and Karl was going to give it to me."

"And you were going to sell it?" Rose asked. "This whole thing is about some book?"

"Sorry I'm not as noble as you are," Bela replied.

Xander clapped his hands loudly, making everyone jump. "Enough!" He looked at Bela. "You really want this book, don't you?"

Bela grimaced. "Yes."

Xander squatted in front of her so that they were eye to eye. "Then you're going to help us."

"What?" Rose exploded. The Doctor grabbed her arm and shook his head. He gazed over at Xander, his face sending the message that he would back him up on the decision.

"You want the book, and I want to stop Sylar; I think we might be able to help each other on this one," he smiled falsely. "What do you say?"

Bela glanced around the room, her eyes finally resting on Xander with such uncertainty about him that he nearly flinched. "Fine," she said, standing up much to Xander's surprise. "I'm in." She quickly made her way to Xander's bedroom, throwing over her shoulder as she left, "I'll take the bed, thank you."

Xander stood, dumbfounded at just having lost his room to the woman. "Indestructible binding coil, eh?" he heard Spike ask.

88

The following morning, Xander, who'd slept on the couch and forced Spike to sleep on the floor, was awoken by someone roughly shaking him. "Spike, leave me alone," he muttered grumpily.

"Sorry to disappoint," said a voice that was most definitely not Spike. "I need to collect a few of my things."

Xander cracked his eye open and saw Bela standing above him, her hand on her hip and a look of disdain on her face. "What?"

"My things," Bela repeated. "I need some clothes, otherwise I'd be sitting in these filthy jeans for weeks."

"You could always go naked," Xander suggested.

Bela sent him a withering look. "Just get up and take me."

Xander swung himself into a sitting position and look at the woman in front of him. "Why don't you just go back to your place, huh? Why stay here, in my bed, longer than you have to?"

Bela smiled and ruffled his hair. "Too far, Cyclops. Now, can we please get going? I need to pick up some sheets while we're out." Xander gave her a questioning look and she added, "Lord knows how dirty the ones I slept on were last night."

Xander sighed and throughly kneaded his face with his knuckles. "Let me take a shower," he grumbled.

"No time," Bela said, tossing him his cologne. "Spray some on and we'll go."

Although he in no way wanted to what Bela was telling him, he inexplicably found himself doing just that. "Good boy," she grinned when he was done. "Now let's go."

As the two exited the apartment, they ran into Gwen and Rhys on the way to an early breakfast. Rhys seemed relived at the sight of them and even said a loud, and impossibly cheery, "Hello, Xander!" when they met up. Xander shook his hand, still not quite awake, when he felt Gwen staring at him. As he tried to read the look on her face, he realized that he and Bela, a woman she'd never met before, had exited the apartment with Xander looking disheveled and in the same clothes as he wore the day before.

Xander started to say something, but Bela grabbed his wrist and pulled him away, abruptly ending the encounter. "Those were my friends," Xander protested lamely, as he and Bela got in his car which Jack had so nicely paid for.

"I feel sorry for you then," Bela said, her eyes twinkling with mischief. "Now drive."

Muttering curses in his head, Xander did as she said. They had been gone for twenty minutes when Xander's cellphone started to ring. "Is that the 'Indiana Jones' theme?" Bela questioned, her lip curling in disgust at Xander's ring tone.

Xander sent her a look filled with contempt as he answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Xander." It was Jack. "I need a favor."

"What's up?"

"Mohinder Suresh is flying in tonight and I need you to pick him up."

"No problem," Xander replied, warily eyeing Bela as he spoke. "When's his plane come in?"

"Ianto will call with the details," Jack answered, "just be careful. Suresh warned us that Sylar may show up."

"Take some backup?" Xander asked.

"I would."

88

Xander sat in his car with Spike and the Doctor and watched as people came and went from the small private airport that Suresh was arriving at. "How much longer?" Spike asked, cleaning his nails with a knife he'd brought along.

"He should already be here," Xander replied.

Spike rolled his eyes in disbelief but almost as soon as the vampire's attention had turned back to the airport, Suresh came walking out. "See," Xander smiled, "I told you." He jumped out of the car and called out the Indian man. After introducing him to Spike and the Doctor, Xander set out for Torchwood glad that Sylar hadn't shown up.

88

Xander stepped back and looked at the list of names Suresh had written on the board. "That's five more then we knew about," he said to Jack.

Jack nodded. In addition to Karl, who according to Suresh had the ability to speak and read every language, Sylar had added five more names to his list of victims; a man in Germany with super-speed, a teenage boy in California who could fly, a man in Chicago who walk through solid objects, a woman in Spain who controlled fire, and in Japan he'd found an immortal man who'd been buried alive and taken his ability which meant that Sylar was now invincible.

"Do you have names of others?" Jack asked. "People who haven't been killed by Sylar and you know have an ability for a fact?"

Suresh nodded. "Of course."

Jack glanced at the list of Sylar's victims again before saying, "I want to get in touch with Molly again. I understand she's frightened of him but if she can find Sylar for us then we can try to determine who on your list he's going after next."

As Suresh went to go make the call, Jack turned to face Xander. "I want you ready to leave at a moment's notice."

"Why?"

Jack grinned. "Cause you're going to lead the team that intercepts Sylar."

Xander smiled weakly. "Yay?"

88

"Who the hell has ever heard of Dillon bleedin' Texas?" Spike demanded as the car rolled along the streets of the small town. A day earlier, Molly had informed Dr. Suresh that Sylar was headed for Texas; using Suresh's list, Torchwood discovered that there were two people living with abilities in the town. Xander was now in a black sedan with Spike, Suresh, Owen, Martha, and much to his dismay, Bela.

"Nobody," Owen answered Spike's question. "But we're here anyway."

"In the middle of the day, I might add," Spike said. "A time of day which usually doesn't suit my complexion."

"You don't have to get out of the car," Xander said as Owen, who was now grumbling about driving on the wrong side of the road, pulled up to the high school. "Martha, stay with Billy here and make sure he doesn't burn," Xander said as he and the others exited.

Xander entered the school's front office and gave the receptionist his best fake-smile. "Hello," he greeted, "my name is Alexander Harris. I'm with the Texas Rangers," he flashed the woman a fake badge, "I need to speak with two of your students."

"Are they in trouble?" the woman asked. Xander guessed that she wasn't really concerned and instead just wanted to know for gossip's sake.

"No, ma'am. Just like to ask them a few questions regarding some family members of theirs who've applied to join the Rangers. We have to do thorough background checks."

"Of course," the woman said. "What are their names?"

"Matthew Saracen and Tyra Collette."

The receptionist was in the process of turning away when the lights in the school suddenly went out, plunging everything into an odd semi-darkness. Two seconds later, a blood chilling scream was heard. "Shit," Xander cursed. Owen quickly opened his briefcase and handed weapons to Xander, Mohinder, and Bela. Xander hurridely texted a warning to Martha and she immediately ran inside as Spike drove the car off. Owen gave Martha a gun as Xander and Bela began creeping down a hallway. Suresh followed behind them with Martha in the rear and Owen quickly talking to the receptionist.

Xander made his way into the actual school hall. "He's in the gym," Owen spoke. "She's in class." Xander nodded, turning his attention before him. "Room number?"

"546."

Xander glanced at the numbers above the door nearest him and cursed. They were on the opposite side of the building. He glanced into the classroom and saw the students huddled together and allowed himself to take relief in the fact that he didn't currently have to worry about anyone getting in the way. A scream, male, came from across the building and as the fivesome headed toward the gym, sounds of fighting broke out. "Shit, shit, shit," Xander cursed again. Finally, he kicked open the gym doors and was immediately sent flying backwards by an unseen force. Xander wasn't sure how for he would have flown had it not been for the classroom wall he slammed into with enough force to smash through.

He heard the screams of several students as he lay dazed and in incredible amounts of pain on the classroom floor. The sounds of gunshots reached his ears from down the hall. Warily, he tried to stand but he quickly discovered he was in no shape to do anything. He coughed and blood came up, a sure sign that crashing through the wall had hurt him bad. As he lay on the ground, a girl appeared in his line of vision; she was very pretty and had short hair and was staring at him so concernedly, Xander almost thanked her. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Just...peachy," Xander managed.

More gunshots came, a sickening scream, and then Bela was in the classroom. "There you are," she said, crouching beside him. "We got Saracen; Sylar's bound by an amulet right now but we have to find Collette and fast."

"Me?" the girl asked.

Xander turned his head in the girl's direction, his neck screaming in protest. "Are you...Tyra?"

The girl nodded. "Yeah."

Xander smiled and turned to Bela. "Found her."

"I don't understand," Tyra protested, "what's going on? What do you want with me?"

Before anyone could answer, Suresh, Owen, Martha, and a young man Xander guessed was Matt Saracen ran into view. Xander then saw what appeared to an entire football team follow close behind. "We need to go," Suresh said. "Sylar won't be held much longer."

No sooner had Mohinder finished talking, the serial killer appeared waving his hands and telekineticly throwing people around. "Suresh!" he bellowed, "it's over."

As if on cue, the black Sedan came crashing through the school wall, running Sylar over. The doors flung open and Spike poked his head out. "Get in," he demanded. Suresh and Martha instantly jumped in while Bela and Owen helped Xander in the car.

"C'mon," Owen said, gesturing for Tyra and Matt to join them.

"I don't think so," Matt said.

Owen pointed to where Sylar lay. "You see that man? He wants you dead! We're here to save you; now get the fuck in!"

Xander watched as the two teens debated whether or not to get in. The sight of Sylar's mangled body repairing itself did the trick. As soon as they jumped in, Spike took off and Bela began reciting an enchantment she found that would teleport Sylar to the Arctic circle. A fully healed Sylar appeared in front of the car, stopping it with his telekinesis. "Big mistake," he said to Spike. Bela began chanting faster as Sylar reached back with his hand and formed a ball of fire. "Bye," he grinned. Before he could send the fireball at them however, Bela finished and Sylar disappeared.

"Go," Owen pounded on the back Spike's chair. The vampire resumed driving, carefully avoiding the sunlight getting in through the cracks in the window, and they took off.

88

By the time Xander woke up, he was in the bed of a semi-decent motel with Spike as his only company. "Where is everybody?"

"Suresh is meeting with kids' parents," Spike explained. "Owen and Martha went with 'im."

"And Bela? Did she leave? Or better yet, did Sylar kill her?"

Spike chuckled. "Nope. She's meeting up with some blokes she knows; Winchester or something like that. Says they may be able to help."

Xander remembered meeting a man named Dean Winchester during his trip with the Doctor but said nothing. "How long have I been out?"

"Just two days. Owen's pumped you full of drugs until we get back to Torchwood, so you probably won't even be able to move."

Xander did notice an odd but pleasant numbness throughout his body. "This trip could've gone better," Xander eventually croaked.

"You're telling me."

The door to the room opened and Bela walked. Xander noticed that she seemed to be swaying her hips more than usual and when two men appeared behind her, the look on the shorter one's face was all the explanation Xander needed. "Good to see your up," Bela said in a manner that said 'I don't really care'.

"Always lovely to see you," Xander said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

The shorter of the two men, who looked like a younger version of the man Xander had met, smiled. "I see your fan of Bela, too."

"Aren't we all?"

He held out his hand. "Dean Winchester. This is my brother, Sam."

Xander looked at Dean's offered hand and sighed. "Can't shake." Off of Dean's confused look, he added, "Went through a wall. Kinda numbed up right now."

"I gotcha."

"I hate to interrupt," Bela said, "but I think someone should explain just what's going here to them." She gave Dean a look. "Go extra slow for him."

Xander filled the Winchesters in on what had been happening. "So this Sylar guy," Sam started once Xander had finished, "He's going unite the demons?"

"Yeah. Pretty much."

Sam and Dean shared a look and Dean shrugged. "What the hell," the elder Winchester grinned. "I only got two months left anyway." He turned to Xander. "We're in."

"And so are we." Xander looked over at the door where Suresh stood with Matt and Tyra.

"I guess I'll tag along," a new voice said. Xander looked to the center of the room, where a young blonde had suddenly appeared.

"Ruby?" Sam asked, shocked.

"I'm going to make sure neither one of you dies," she explained, before Sam question her.

"She with you?" Xander asked.

"Yeah," Sam nodded.

"I'll call Bobby," Dean said. "See if he'll help."

"The more, the merrier," Xander replied.

88

The next morning Xander sat in a chair as Jack was introduced to Torchwood's newest recruits. "This place is awesome," Dean shouted. "Is that a freaking pterodactyl?"

Bela sighed and rolled her eyes in annoyance at Dean's joy but Xander thought he saw a glimmer of amusement as well. Suresh meanwhile was catching Matt and Tyra up on their abilities while Bobby, Sam and Dean's friend, seemed to be trying to be anywhere but where Spike was.

Owen sat down next to him and grinned. "So this our little army," he said, scanning the room. "You know we're screwed, right?"

"Oh, totally."


	11. Everything's Changing

**Author Notes:** This isn't as long as I planned but I'm moving this weekend so I decided to just put up what I had.

**Be Warned This Story is Not Beta Read**

**Pairing:** Xander/Gwen, Jack/Ianto, Owen/Tosh, The Doctor/Rose, Buffy/Angel, Willow/Kennedy, Dawn/Conner, Mickey/Martha, Spike/Illyria, Andrew/Vi

**Summary:** Xander's life changes when he becomes involved with another secret organization: Torchwood.

**Crossovers**: Torchwood, Doctor Who, Heroes, Chuck, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Blade (the movies), Hellblazer, Transformers (the movie), Smallville, Supernatural, Reaper, House, Bloodrayne, Charmed, The L Word, The X-Files, Hellboy (the movie), Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter, Bionic Woman (2007), Bones, Friday Night Lights, Nip/Tuck, Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles, Lost, Alias

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Doctor Who, Torchwood or their characters. (Although I do wish I owned Dawn and Gwen.)

**Rating: **R for strong language, some violence, and sexual situations

**Season: **Post "Chosen"/"Not Fade Away"in the Buffyverse; Post "The Last of the Time Lords"/"End of Days" in the Doctor Who worlds

**Category:** Action/Drama/Humor/Romance

**Spoilers:** Basic Knowledge of Doctor Who (2005) and Torchwood as well as all of Buffy and Angel

88

Riley looked at the forms in front of him and tried not to think of what he would be doing if he signed them. "Is something the matter, Major Finn?"

Riley looked up into the hunger-filled eyes of Lex Luthor. He could tell the billionaire wanted him to sign the paper but that wasn't the point. If Riley signed the non-disclosure agreement Luthor had presented him with, then no matter what happened as result of the testing done on the alien he and his men had retrieved, he couldn't say a word. Riley was starting to believe Graham's theory that the alien, who called itself Elita One, didn't mean any harm and simply attacked Riley and his men because it, or rather she, was scared. Realizing that Lex was still staring at him, Riley finally shook his head. "No, sir. No problem." And he signed the paper.

88

By the time Special Agent Seeley Booth had arrived at the murder scene, the press had already caught wind and were at there. "Perfect," Booth grumbled as he ducked under the police tape. The flight from Washington had left him more than a little jet-lagged and the last thing he felt like doing was dealing with the press on top of the latest of the 'Sylar' murders. "Got anything?" he asked the nearest person in a CSU uniform. When the response came back negative, Booth wasn't surprised; Sylar never left anything for anyone to find. "How many victims?"

"Seven. But only one with the head removed."

"Jesus," Booth gasped, unconsciously fingering the cross around his neck. He never liked going to murder scenes but the Sylar ones, with their lack of evidence and hint of cannibalism, always gave him the worst nightmares. He was lead into the surgery room of the plastic surgeon's office that the latest murders occurred at, where the seven victims lay strewn about. "Oh, god," he whispered upon seeing that one of the victims was a young girl. "Who are they?"

A young officer, whose was tinged with green, began reading off names. "The man over there is Dr. Christian Troy, the woman next to him is Julia McNamara; over there is Matt and Annie McNamara and that's their father, Sean, over there. That's Liz Cruz and Olivia Lord in the corner."

Booth swallowed down his bile when he noticed Olivia's head was cut open. "Anything else?" he asked shakily.

The officer nodded. "Yes, sir. It may be nothing but according to all reports, there was an eighth person in this building."

Booth turned sharply to face the man. "What?"

"Eden Lord," the officer continued, "daughter of Olivia. The surveillance cameras from outside clearly show her entering right before we lose the footage."

"What are you saying?"

"We believe that Miss Lord has been taken by Sylar."

88

Riley couldn't sleep. He had tried to convince himself that it was because his wife wasn't with him but he wasn't buying it anymore. He knew that he was feeling guiltily over essentially signing the death warrant of Elita One. As he rolled over and tried to get in a more comfortable position, he heard the door to his room creak open and footsteps approach his bed. Moving with the lighting fast reflexes that years of battling demons had given him, Riley pulled a gun from under his bed and whirled around, aiming at the intruder's head. "Good to see you, too," Graham cracked.

Riley relaxed and sent his friend an angry glare. "What?"

"You signed the papers, didn't you?" Graham asked in a slightly accusing tone.

"I had to," Riley sighed.

"I know. But that doesn't mean Luthor will get to do whatever he wants with Elita."

"It doesn't?"

Graham grinned. "Nope. We're gonna stop him."

"How?"

"Have you ever heard of Sector 7?"

88

Xander covered his ears, trying to block the sounds coming from the room down the hall. "Not exactly what you pictured you'd be doing with your life, is it?" Ianto asked as he passed two earplugs over to him.

"You mean sitting and listening to a girl test out her ability to scream?" Xander asked. "Not really, no."

Ianto grinned then winced as another one of Tyra's sonic screams came down the hall. "How far?" Suresh's voice came.

"Far enough," Xander yelled back, the earplugs doing little to block out his headache. How he and Ianto had come up with the job of testing Tyra's range was still beyond him.

"What do you think Matt's power is?" Ianto asked, carefully removing his earplugs.

"Hopefully, not as painful as this one, whatever it is," Xander replied.

"No pain, no gain, right?" Ianto laughed. Barely a second later, another of Tyra's screams came, knocking the unprepared Ianto down.

"Right," Xander nodded.

88

"Is this really fair?" Xander asked Jack.

Jack shook his head. "No, it's not. But neither was you sending Gwen to come see me."

Xander, who had been in the process of inflating an air mattress, paused. "What's that now?"

Jack smiled as he unfurled a sleeping bag. "Gwen stopped by my office this afternoon with a rather surprising announcement." He gave Xander a pointed look. "Maybe you should take your own advice and tell her you like her."

"I take it you don't share her feelings?"

"Oh, I do," Jack corrected. "But I'm already in love." Xander was puzzled until he saw the meaningful glance Jack shot at Ianto, who was readying another air mattress.

"So because I encouraged Gwen to act on her feelings, I get stuck with all the newbies?"

"Well, there's that and the fact that no one else has the room to house them."

Xander sighed and finished his task. "How is she?" he finally asked.

"Good," Jack said. "She's staying at the Hub for tonight since she left Rhys and Casa de Xander's all full up."

Xander winced. "Damn it. She wouldn't have to stay at the Hub if I hadn't opened my big mouth."

"True," Jack conceded. "But you did what you thought was right; that's what a real friend does and I'm sure Gwen knows that."

"Really?" Xander couldn't help the hopefulness in his voice.

"Yeah. But just to be on the safe side, I wouldn't have any sharp objects lying around when it's just the two of you."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Dean sauntered over to where Xander and Jack sat and joined them, handing each man a beer. "Why does Bela get the bedroom?" he asked, quizzically. "Isn't this your place?"

Xander nodded. "I didn't have the energy to argue with her."

"Been there," the elder Winchester said.

"Where's that?" The trio looked up to see Bela's approaching form.

"Nowhere special," Dean replied, faking a smile. "Just talking about our mutual hatred of all things you."

Bela matched Dean's smile as she said, "Keep dreaming, Dean."

As she walked off, Jack watched her go. "Anyone else notice she's quite attractive?"

Xander and Dean cast each other worried glances but said nothing. The awkward silence was broken by Ianto's cellphone ringing. "Jack," he called. "Mohinder wants to speak with you."

Jack hurridely jogged over to Ianto and took the offered phone. After a few tense seconds, the immortal hung up, clearly upset. "What's up?" Dean questioned.

"It's Sylar. He got another victim."

88

Jack leaned back in his chair and Xander could tell that whatever ability Sylar had gotten from the woman in Los Angeles, it wasn't a good one. "What's up?" he asked, walking into the office.

Jack looked at him wearily and sighed. "The woman Sylar killed, Olivia Lord? She had the ability to find others like her."

Xander blanched. "You mean..."

Jack nodded. "Now he has his own version of Suresh's list. A far more complete list."

Xander sat down across from Jack. "That's not good."

Jack began replying but a shrill alarm began blaring and a panicked look crossed his face. "What the hell is that?" Xander asked, having never heard that particular noise before in his tenure with Torchwood.

Jack looked him dead in the eye as he said, "That means you better go to the Council." Off of Xander's confused look he added, "The Doctor installed it. It alerts when a TARDIS had been activated."

"But the TARDIS is my apartment, remember?"

"Exactly," Jack said. "It isn't the Doctor's TARDIS."

Suddenly, everything became clear to Xander. "It's the Master."

"Ahead of schedule."

88

Riley put down his cup of coffee and stared at the young man across from him. "So Elita One is an...AutoBot?"

The teen, Sam Witwicky, nodded. "That's right."

"And there are other like her here on Earth?"

"Four."

"And they...transform?"

"Yep. But from what you've told me, Elita hasn't had the chance to since Lex has been keeping her locked up."

Riley shook his head and the rather stunning girl beside Sam, Mikaela, smiled. "Hard to wrap your head around, huh?" she asked, grinning.

"Not when your in my business," Riley laughed.

"So," Graham cut in, "do you think you can help?"

"Of course," Sam replied. "When do you want to get her out of there?"

"How's tomorrow night?"

"Perfect."

Graham smiled at Riley and the elder man realized that in just two days, he'd be a wanted man; and he kind of liked the feeling.

88

Giles stood in the entrance of the Council as Xander and Spike walked up the steps. "Hello, Ripper," the vampire greeted, flicking his cigarette onto the grass which had a new 'Do Not Walk' sign on it.

"Spike," the Head Watcher said through gritted teeth. "So good of you to accompany Xander."

"Well, somebody's gotta make sure that the whelp doesn't get himself killed," he shot back.

Giles beckoned them inside. "Everyone's in the board room," he stated. As soon as Spike had gotten slightly ahead of them, Giles pulled Xander aside. "Are you sure about this? I mean, you don't have to face them."

"Yeah, I do."

Giles seemed to be struggling with something for a moment but eventually he just nodded and they caught up with Spike outside the board room. "Are you ready?" he asked them. After getting the nod, Giles pushed open the door and led them inside.

Xander felt the room tense up as he and Spike entered. He was perfectly aware that neither he or Spike had given any explanation as to where they had been and that Giles and Angel, the only two people who had known where they were, had never said anything. As he looked out he saw that Giles had gathered everyone in the room: Buffy and Angel sat together as did Willow and Kennedy and Wood and Faith; Andrew, Dawn, and Vi were also in the room.

Dawn immediately ran up to Xander an enveloped him in a hug. "Where the hell have you been?" she demanded, stepping back to look at him.

"It's a long story," Xander smiled.

"Joined a group that fights aliens," Spike interjected.

"Or you could tell it that way."

"What?" Came the response from the Head Slayer.

Xander drew his attention to Buffy as he said, "Aliens, Buff. They're as real as demons."

"Is that so?"

"You can bet your badly dyed hair it is," Xander replied, glad to have a long table and a vampire he'd come to tolerate standing between them.

"Perhaps it's best if you start at the beginning," Giles said, hoping to divert Xander and Buffy's hostility long enough for the Slayer to hear what was happening.

Xander nodded and began telling the others everything that had happened between him and Torchwood. "That's where you've been?" Dawn asked, still clutching Xander's shirt slightly.

"Yeah."

"So you need our help?" Willow asked.

"I really do, Wills. Especially yours."

Willow blushed a little as she said, "Well, you've got it."

"Mine too," Wood spoke.

"And you know I'm going," Dawn said from beside him.

"I think I'll stay here," Buffy said quietly. Noticing the looks she was getting she added, "Just in case something else happens while you guys deal with Sylar."

"I'm with Buffy," Kennedy said.

All eyes fell to Angel and Faith. "What the hell?" Faith shrugged. "I'm in."

Finally, never taking his eyes off of Buffy, Angel said, "I'm going with Xander."

"I thought so," Buffy said, a small smile on her face. She turned to face Xander. "You make sure that Angel and Dawn come back, you hear me?"

"Of course."

Buffy smiled at him. "And don't die, okay?"

"I won't."

"Well," Giles sighed, "what now?"

"Now, we find the Master."

88

He looked over at her sleeping form, still not quite able to fathom why he had taken her with him instead of killing her like the others. It might have been that she was easily one of the most beautiful women that he'd ever laid eyes on but that seemed ridiculous to him, since beauty and sex meant nothing to him anymore. More than likely, he reasoned, it was the way she had barely reacted when he'd killed her mother and those other people in the building; like seeing such a horrific vision was almost enjoyable to her. And that made her very interesting to him. Just like the book he'd found at the home in London where he'd killed the language guy; the one that had been all about demons. And when things interested him, like Eden and the book, Sylar made sure to know everything there was to know.


	12. Let's Do the Time Warp Again!

**Author Notes:** So, so, sorry about the lack of updating; this chapter was a little slower in the inspiration department than others and I'm still very unhappy with it but it gets the story where it needs to go so I won't complain too much. Also, there's been a few tweaks in the crossover section.

**Be Warned This Story is Not Beta Read**

**Pairing:** Xander/Gwen, Jack/Ianto, Owen/Tosh, The Doctor/Rose, Buffy/Angel, Willow/Kennedy, Dawn/Conner, Mickey/Martha, Spike/Illyria, Andrew/Vi

**Summary:** Xander's life changes when he becomes involved with another secret organization: Torchwood.

**Crossovers**: Torchwood, Doctor Who, Heroes, Battlestar Galactica, Chuck, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Blade (the movies), Hellblazer, Transformers (the movie), Smallville, Supernatural, House, Charmed, The L Word, Hellboy (the movie), Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter, Bionic Woman (2007), Bones, Friday Night Lights, Nip/Tuck, Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles, Lost, Alias, Eli Stone

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Doctor Who, Torchwood or their characters. (Although I do wish I owned Dawn and Gwen.)

**Rating: **R for strong language, some violence, and sexual situations

**Season: **Post "Chosen"/"Not Fade Away"in the Buffyverse; Post "The Last of the Time Lords"/"End of Days" in the Doctor Who worlds

**Category:** Action/Drama/Humor/Romance

**Spoilers:** Basic Knowledge of Doctor Who (2005) and Torchwood as well as all of Buffy and Angel

88

"Los Angeles."

"Excuse me?"

Dr. Suresh entered Jack's office, a worried look on his face. "Los Angeles. That's where I believe Sylar will head next."

"What makes you say that?"

Suresh placed a men's magazine on Jack's desk. "Her."

The immortal time traveler looked at the model on the page, an up and coming actress named Nikki Stevens. "She has an ability?" Jack asked.

"She astral projects," Suresh replied.

"And you think Sylar is going to go after her, why?"

"Because a few months ago when he lost his abilities, his name stopped inspiring fear. Most people don't even realize he's still alive."

"And if he kills her," Jack said, nodding at Nikki's picture, "a young beautiful starlet about to be in a big movie..."

"He's front page news," Suresh concluded. "He's driven as much by ego as he is by power."

Jack nodded. The Doctor, Gwen, and others were busy scouring the city for any signs of The Master leaving him with very little options on who to send. "Find Xander," Jack said finally. "We're going to Los Angeles."

88

Xander popped another grape into his mouth and relaxed in his seat. Now that the Council was involved in the battle against Sylar, they could travel a little more comfortably. He cast his gaze around the private jet Giles had arranged and looked at his companions on the trip; Dean and Sam talking in quiet tones in the corner, Jack and Suresh, huddled over a map of L.A., Angel sitting stoically in the back, and Tyra and Ianto both of whom seemed like they would throw up at any minute. Xander hadn't understood why Tyra, who was still reeling from the events in Texas, was needed on such a dangerous trip but Suresh explained that not only would they need every available body (which as it turned out wasn't many) but Tyra's sonic scream would help against Sylar, who would be particularly vulnerable due to his enhanced hearing.

The plan was simple: Once they arrived in L.A. Sam and Dean would began surveillance on Nikki, find out where she lived and who she hung out with. Once they had her pattern down, they would attempt to calmly convince her to come with them; nothing like the events that led to Tyra and Saracen joining them. Of course, the entire plan hinged on Sylar not showing up, which Suresh had assured everyone he would. Xander really hoped Plan B wouldn't be necessary.

88

Two days later, and Plan A was still working. Jack had informed everyone that he planned to wait another day before they made their move but so far things were running smoothly on their end. Back in Wales, Gwen and the rest of the team, along with a small cache of Watchers Giles had given Torchwood, were having no luck in locating The Master or his TARDIS. Frustration was beginning to mount but The Doctor had assured Jack that The Master was still in Cardiff.

Xander sat sorting through a collection of pictures Sam and Dean had taken of Nikki and her friends, some of which included pictures of her and the female director of her new movie that would cause a huge scandal, and stopped at the sight of a young woman in one of them. "Dean," he called, getting the attention of the elder Winchester. "Who's this?"

"I think she's an extra for the movie."

"She looks familiar."

"Hot is what you mean."

Xander couldn't shake his ominous feeling and quickly approached Jack and Suresh with the picture. "That's Eden Lord," Jack said.

"As in Sylar's captive?"

Jack nodded. "This can't be good."

"He's here," Suresh agreed. "And he's watching her, too."

88

Sylar stood watching as she made her way into the bar with the group of women she'd been traveling with. He'd shown remarkable patience in waiting this long to kill her, but he'd had enough and knew that tonight was the night. Eden, who had fallen so easily into her role as his accomplice, followed. She nodded slightly in his direction, letting him know she would be ready in ten minutes. _'Ten minutes,' _he thought to himself. _'I can wait ten more minutes to kill her.' _But then he saw the girl from Texas, Tyra her name was, approach the bar and his blood boiled. If she was here then that meant Suresh and his gang of misfits weren't far behind. _'That's alright. This time I'm prepared.' _He cast a glance at the book by his side and smiled. _'I've got backup.'_

88

Xander watched Tyra enter the bar and took a nervous sip of his coffee. "Are you sure this will work?"

Jack, who sat next to him in the cramped surveillance van, nodded. "It's ladies night at a lesbian bar. Tyra's the only one of us who could get in there."

"Yeah, but you saw Eden go in there," Xander countered. "That means Sylar can't be far behind. And something tells me, ladies night or not, he'll have no trouble walking up in there."

"Maybe," Jack conceded.

"No 'maybe'. You know you could've just sent that girl to her death!"

"It's for the greater good," Jack responded, his voice hollow.

"Fuck that." Xander jumped out of the van, ignoring Jack and Suresh, who were shouting for him to return.

"Xander!" He turned to see Dean and Sam approaching. "What's up?"

"If Sylar jumps the gun and attacks-"

"Tyra's dead," Dean finished.

"Yeah."

"Well, let's go then."

Xander nodded his thanks and turned around-coming face to face with Sylar. "What the-" Before he could finish Sylar sent him hurtling through the air.

88

Tyra stood inside She-Bar, attempting to determine how to approach Nikki and her friends, who were watching several women wrestling in a ring covered in what Tyra thought was some kind of oil, when there was a huge crash and a figure went flying across the building, landing in the center of the ring. She immediately recognized the man as Xander. _'How many times can one guy go flying through a wall?'_

A panic soon broke out and as people attempted to flee, Tyra made her way to the ring where Xander lay. "Xander! Are you okay?" She knelt by his side, grimacing at the oil, and checked his pulse.

"I'm fine," Xander managed. "Little woozy but that could be from flying through the wall." There was a commotion and several more people went flying through the air. "Get Nikki," Xander rasped.

Tyra looked through the panicked crowd and spotted Nikki and her friends. "Nikki," she called, running toward the actress. "Over here!" One of the women, Jenny was the name Sam had told her, looked in her direction. "I can help!"

Jenny said something to the group, who all gave her strange looks, but they were soon by her. "Who are you?" Nikki asked.

"No time," Tyra said, shaking her head. "We have to go."

"No way, Jose," a woman she knew was named Kit said, "We ain't going-"

She was cut off by the sudden appearance of Sylar, standing twenty feet away, fire sitting in the palm of his hand. "Three for the price of one," he said, grinning like a madman.

"Three?"

Sylar gave Tyra a bemused smirk. "Suresh didn't tell you about her?" He jerked his head in the direction of a woman covered in the oily substance. "Or maybe he didn't know about Cindi?" the killer continued. "Oh well, doesn't matter now."

Without thinking, as she saw Sylar raise his hand, Tyra let out an ear-splitting scream. The women recoiled but seemed okay; Sylar, on the other hand collapsed in a heap with blood pouring down from his ears. "Help me and my friend," she commanded the group, nodding toward Xander.

Nikki and the others followed and, with help from the woman named Cindi, she picked Xander up. "Why is the room spinning?" he asked deliriously before passing out.

Tyra steadied him and began moving forward. "Stop!" She felt frozen and she saw Cindi have the same reaction. Slowly, she turned to see Sylar holding Jenny up the throat, a frozen icicle that resembled a dagger in his hand. Without a word, Sylar plunged the piece of ice deep into Jenny; he moved with such speed and strength that buy the time Jenny's body had hit the floor, Kit and three other woman lay dead and he'd used his telekinesis to flip Tyra and Cindi backwards. Fearing the worst, and feeling unconsciousness sinking in, Tyra couldn't help but wonder where the others were.

88

The moment Sylar had flung Xander away, Dean had tried to attack; he really had. But Sylar was faster and Dean had been flung backwards into the van for his efforts. The man had quickly disappeared into the club and in his place, Eden stood. Dean had stumbled forward, warning her about the man she was with and the evil things he'd done and would do, but she just smiled and said, "I know." That's when Dean had noticed the book and suddenly she'd conjured at least thirty of the nastiest demons Dean had ever seen in front of her; Jack and the others had joined him by then. "Have fun boys," she waved.

"What do we do?" Suresh asked nervously.

"We fight our way in," Jack said grimly.

88

Sylar dropped Nikki's body and turned to the girl, Tyra, laying on the ground. "This was almost too easy," the man grinned. Slowly lifting the girl, Sylar pointed his finger at her head, letting his ability take it's course; that's when he was hit from behind. Reeling, Sylar turned around coming face to face with Peter Petrelli.

"You!" Sylar shouted, frustration taking hold.

"Yeah, me," Peter responded, hitting Sylar in the chest and knocking the killer through the back wall. Wasting no time, Peter grabbed the three unconscious bodies at his feet and flew away before Sylar could regain his bearings. When Sylar did eventually pull himself together he stormed out of the building, spotting the various bodies of the demons Eden had summoned lying around. Reaching out with his hearing, Sylar heard the familiar beating of Mohinder Suresh's heart.

Flipping the van Suresh was hiding behind away, Sylar wasted no time in quickly grabbing the man. The doctor struggled but was unable to break from Sylar's superhuman grip. "You're coming with me, Doc," Sylar said, his voice not betraying the anger he felt. Hearing the sounds of others approaching, Sylar took to the skies, flying away.

88

Jack had thought they were all done for until Peter had shown up. Mohinder had told him that he'd called the man, but Jack didn't believe that he would arrive in time. But he was wrong. Peter had shown up and he had saved Xander and Tyra; but many people, including Nikki Stevens, had died. And Suresh was gone.

"How's Xander look?" he asked Ianto.

"Good," the younger man replied. "Peter healed him and the others so they should all be waking soon."

The sounds of sirens approaching spit the night air. Peter, who'd been flying away the bodies of the demons he'd killed, returned. "I think we should leave."

"Now there's an idea I get behind," Angel nodded.

88

Sylar threw Suresh to the ground roughly, his enhanced hearing allowing him the opportunity to hear the man's left arm break from the force. Eden got of her car, which was parked near by, and joined him. "What's the matter?" she asked.

"Mohinder and his little cronies got in my way again," Sylar replied through gritted teeth.

"I thought you had everything under control?"

"I did, until Petrelli showed up." He kicked Suresh in ribs. "I'm going to enjoy this."

88

"What now?"

'_That's the million dollar question,' _Xander thought to himself. Jack appeared by his side, a grim look on his face. "Right now, there's nothing we can do. Sylar's holding all the cards."

"Not all the cards," Peter reminded the man. Not long after the attack, they'd found Cindi among the wreckage and brought her with them.

"True," Jack relented. "But without Suresh..."

He didn't need to finish his sentence; everyone knew what he was thinking. The heavy silence was broken by Jack's cellphone ringing. "Hello?" he answered quickly. There was a few seconds of silence then, "It's the Doctor! They've found the Master!"

88

Xander followed Jack back into the Hub, nearly colliding with Spike, who was clutching a wounded arm, the immortal man was moving so fast. "Daleks!" the Doctor was shouting, hovering over a destroyed console in the middle of the Hub.

"What?" Jack shot back.

The Doctor raced over to the them, a madness in his eyes that Xander had never seen before. "He had Daleks with him Jack," The Doctor offered, his voice sounding defeated while his eyes shone with fury.

"How is that possible?"

"The bleedin' rift," Owen said, appearing next to the Doctor. "That's how we found him. There was a monster of a surge and by the time we got there he'd assembled a small group of these Dalek things."

"What's a small group?" Jack asked, fear creeping it's way into the man's voice.

"Twenty," the Doctor said, saying the word as if it were a curse.

Jack seemed staggered for a moment. "Casualties?"

The Doctor paused and nodded to Owen. "Lots of injuries; mostly superficial. We did manage to send about ten of those bastards back but..."

"But what?"

Xander's stomach did a somersault at the look on Owen's face. _'Somebody died,'_ he thought to himself. Images of Gwen flashed before his eyes. "Owen." Jack's voice cut through the haze. "What?"

"Martha...died."

Xander felt a swirl of emotions: sadness at the loss of a friend; anger at yet another devastating blow to the group; and a little bit of relief that it hadn't Gwen or Dawn's names being said. But then he saw the look on Owen's face. "Did something else happen?" Xander heard himself say.

Owen nodded and the Doctor took over. "Jack...he mentioned the Time Vortex."

88

Sylar let Suresh's corpse fall to the ground, his anger all but dissipating at what the man had told him in his final moments. He now knew the name of the thorn in his side: Torchwood. Glancing over at Eden, who looked a little shaken at what she'd just seen done to Suresh, Sylar smiled. "We're leaving."

"Where?" she asked, her voice shaky.

"Cardiff, Wales."

88

After being told about the Daleks and the Time Vortex, Xander found himself at Jack's side as the man stood at the head of the packed conference room. Somewhere along the way Xander had become Jack's right hand and he wasn't sure how. Jack was giving the team, which now seemed to swell and dwindle in size on a daily basis, the same briefing on the Daleks and the Vortex that he'd just been given. The Doctor, who clasped hands tightly with Rose, told them all of the Time War and what the Daleks were capable of; he even explained what the Time Vortex was and how the Master planned to use his TARDIS to turn back the clock and restart the Earth as his own. Once this was done it his turn to tell everyone how things on the Sylar front were going. How they'd ultimately failed to stop him; how they'd gained an alley in Peter but lost one in Dr. Suresh. And then Jack had stood.

"This is folks," he said grimly. "_The_ moment. We have to prevent Sylar and the Master from meeting at all costs. Now, the Doctor and Rose have been doing some research and they both believe that they know when and where the Master will attempt to turn the clock back. The fact that we have to be there goes without saying; because of the presence of the Daleks, which he has somehow gained a hold over, all of us will be needed." He paused, took in everyone's faces. "And not all of us will be coming back."

There was a heavy silence in the room. "Xander has promised us help from the Council," Jack continued. "But even just one Dalek could do the trick and wipe us all out so you still better be on your toes."

Xander noticed Saracen's raised hand before Jack did and nodded in the young man's direction. "When?" Nothing else really needed to be asked.

"Two nights from now. That's all the time we have."

88

Xander slowly opened his eyes, his vision going blurry from the pain inside his head. "What the hell?" he muttered, rubbing his temples. Carefully, he got into a squatting position and looked at his surroundings. He was laying on a small bed, nothing more than a large sleeping bag in all actuality,and the walls around him were draped with red and orange cloths which all been used to seal him off from the outside. A woman peaked her head through the curtains and smiled.

"You're awake," she said.

"Where am I?" Xander asked, confusion setting in.

A man dressed in robes appeared behind the woman. "Can we have a moment?" he asked the woman quietly. She eagerly nodded and left. The man entered the makeshift room and sat next to Xander. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Xander nodded. "Just a little confused...where am I and how did I get here?"

"You were found lying outside the cafeteria," the man said. "You were bleeding so you were brought here."

Xander felt his head and noticed for the first time the bandage on his left side. "Thanks."

"Think nothing of it," the man replied. "Although I would like to know your name."

"Xander."

The man smiled at him. "Hello, Xander. My name is Gaius Baltar."


	13. Lost in Space and Time

**Author Notes:** I know it's been a long time since I updated and I'm sorry. In case you're wondering, the story's become non-linear now and how Xander got onto Galactica will be eventually discovered; just bare with 'til then. Chapter's short but better this than nothing.

**Be Warned This Story is Not Beta Read**

**Pairing:** Xander/Gwen, Jack/Ianto, Owen/Tosh, The Doctor/Rose, Buffy/Angel, Willow/Kennedy, Dawn/Conner, Mickey/Martha, Spike/Illyria, Andrew/Vi

**Summary:** Xander's life changes when he becomes involved with another secret organization: Torchwood.

**Crossovers**: Torchwood, Doctor Who, Heroes, Battlestar Galactica, Chuck, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Blade (the movies), Hellblazer, Transformers (the movie), Smallville, Supernatural, House, Charmed, The L Word, Hellboy (the movie), Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter, Bionic Woman (2007), Bones, Friday Night Lights, Nip/Tuck, Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles, Lost, Alias, Eli Stone, Satana

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Doctor Who, Torchwood or their characters. (Although I do wish I owned Dawn and Gwen.)

**Rating: **R for strong language, some violence, and sexual situations

**Season: **Post "Chosen"/"Not Fade Away"in the Buffyverse; Post "The Last of the Time Lords"/"End of Days" in the Doctor Who worlds

**Category:** Action/Drama/Humor/Romance

**Spoilers:** Basic Knowledge of Doctor Who (2005) and Torchwood as well as all of Buffy and Angel

88

Xander took the offered cup and drank the water like his life depended on it. He still didn't know where he was exactly, other than a 'guest' of Gaius Baltar, and he still had no idea how he'd gotten to this place. Everytime he tried to remember what had happened to him before waking up in Baltar's camp his head began to hurt and distorted images passed by. "Are you alright?"

Xander snapped out of his reverie and looked up at the half-grinning face of Baltar. "I'm fine, thanks."

"Still struggling with your memories?"

"Yeah."

"Is there any way I can help?"

Xander nodded. "I know you said it doesn't matter where I am, but I would really like to know."

Baltar gave a sheepish smile and said, "Alright, if it'll help. You're aboard Galactica."

"Galactica? What's that a cruise ship?"

"No, it's a battlestar. The only one in the fleet," Baltar replied, confusion crossing his features.

"Battle_star_? As in space?"

"Yes, Xander."

"This cannot be happening," Xander moaned, fear and panic clutching at his heart. Quickly he stood and began looking at his surroundings with a greater sense of urgency. "I need to get home; now!"

Baltar grabbed his shoulders. "Xander, there is no home. Caprica is gone, remember?"

"Caprica? What the hell is that?"

Baltar's face became a mirror of the confusion that showed on Xander's. "It's our home."

Xander shook his head. "No...I'm from Earth."

88

Captain Jack Harkness watched as Dawn placed a twinkie on the small patch of grass in the Watcher's cemetery which would now serve as the final resting place of Alexander Harris. Although the young man's body had never been found, the circumstances that had lead to his death left little room in Jack's mind for the hope that he was still alive. Sylar, on the other hand, was a different story. Although the same fate befell the man as Xander, Jack couldn't help but feel that he had survived.

"How you holding up?"

Jack turned to look at Angel, who stood next to him. "Good," he replied. "And you?"

Angel cast his eyes over to the grave marked 'Buffy Summers' and sighed. "Not so well."

Jack's eyes wondered over to a third grave marked 'Toshiko Sato'. "In all honesty...me too."

88

Xander struggled to catch up to Baltar, in part because the man was practically running down the hall, and partly because whoever Baltar was he seemed to be an extremely unliked individual and both he and Xander, through association, were treated to disgusted glares and the occasional shove. "Where are we going?" Xander huffed, finally catching up to Baltar.

"We have to find Lee before he leaves," Baltar replied, gently sliding in between two large men who appeared ready to break his neck at any moment.

"Who?"

"Lee Adama," Baltar tossed over his shoulder. "He's the only one with power I trust."

Still not sure what was going on, Xander followed Baltar into a room where heavily armed men sat. They immediately stood and pulled out their weapons at the sight of Baltar. "Get this reception, a lot?" Xander quipped, recalling his earlier adventure with the Doctor which had resulted in the same greeting.

"More than I care," Baltar admitted. He turned his attention back to the men with guns. "I wish to speak with Mr. Adama."

"He's busy," one of the men replied.

"It's urgent."

"So is this," a new voice said. Xander craned his neck and a man in his early thirties, dressed in a faded blue suit, walk out of what appeared to be a bathroom. "Lt. Thrace is returning soon Dr. Baltar and I would very much like to be on time. So if you'll excuse me," Lee said, gesturing for them to leave.

"I just need one minute," Baltar said, throwing himself in front of Lee. "One minute in private."

Xander felt the guards tense up but Lee relented and ordered them outside. "Your minutes starts now," he said, his voice unable to hide his distrust.

"This is Xander Harris," Baltar said, nodding at Xander. "He says...he says he's from Earth."

Lee did a double take. "What?" He stared at Xander, as if seeing him for the first time. "Is this true?"

"Yeah," Xander nodded. "I have no idea how I got on this ship or where the hell I am, but I'm from Earth."

Lee faced Baltar. "How do I know this isn't some kind of trick?"

Baltar smirked and stared down Lee. "What do I have to gain from lying?"

88

Xander stood in an empty room with Baltar, Lee having gone to get his father, whom Baltar had explained was the Admiral of the fleet. "Can I ask you something, Doc?" Xander said after a few minutes.

"Of course."

"What is the big deal with me being from Earth?"

"The big deal," a voice cut in, "is that we've been searching for Earth for a very long time."

Xander turned to see Lee and an older man with glasses and a severe look on his face in the doorway. "You must be the Admiral," Xander said, using what little memory he had of his Halloween possession years ago to give the man a perfect salute.

Adama seemed surprised by this. "Military man?" he asked.

"In some ways, yeah."

Adama gestured for Xander to have seat. "My son tells me that you claim to be from Earth?"

"Yes, sir. Born and raised."

Adama stared hard at him and for the first time, Xander got the impression that no one in the room, with the exception of maybe Baltar, truly believed he was from Earth. "You'll excuse me Mr. Harris, if I don't believe you?"

Xander began to reply but a young man burst into the room. "Admiral, Starbuck has returned."

"I'll be there in a minute," the man replied.

"Sir...she has a basestar with her."

The reaction on Adama's face shocked Xander. Whatever a basestar was, it couldn't have been good. Immediately, the Admiral jumped up and began barking orders; Lee and the young aide trailing behind. "Keep them here," Adama told the men stationed outside of the room, pointing at Xander and Baltar. As the door closed, Xander caught one last glimpse of the Admiral, a look of worry burned onto his face.

"Doc, you better tell me what's going on." He glanced at the nearly frantic Baltar. "And start from the beginning."

88

By the Adama had come back to the room, Baltar had filled Xander in on everything that had happened since the destruction of the Twelve Colonies. "Admiral, I-"

Adama cut him off with a wave of his hand. "Follow me." He gave Baltar a disdainful look. "You may return to your quarters."

"No." Baltar and Adama both looked shocked at Xander's reply. "Dr. Baltar here has helped me acclimate to things onboard Galactica and I'd like to him to stay with me."

"Do you have any idea who this man is?" Adama hissed, stepping toward Xander slightly.

"Yes, I do. But I trust him." Adama and Baltar's faces both displayed shock at the statement. "He took me in when he didn't have to and he seems, to me at least, to truly be trying to atone for what he's done. So anything you have to say to me, you can say to him as well."

"Thank you, Xander," Baltar said, sounding genuinely touched.

"Very well," Adama said, his face pinched. "Let's go."

The Admiral led the duo done several similar, drab hallways and into a large conference room filled with several people and enough tension to take Xander back to the good old days of Buffy and Angel's relationship. "Well, this is nerve-wrecking," he remarked to Baltar.

The doctor/priest didn't respond. Xander noticed that he seemed to be staring at a woman sitting on the other side of the room, heavily guarded. The woman was tall, Xander could tell as much even though she was sitting, and had dirty blonde hair which hung to her shoulders. She wore a black dress that did little to hide her statuesque figure. She looked, for lack of a better word, like a supermodel. And judging by Baltar's reaction to her and the fact that she, along with an Asian woman and a bruised man, were being watched by all of the room's other occupants left only one explanation for the tension. "Cylons?" he spoke.

Suddenly, all eyes were on him. "Hey," he said, pointing to the balding man in the military uniform standing next to Adama. "A fellow Cyclops!" The looks got more unpleasant; except for a young blonde in fatigues who chuckled. "Sorry; verbal diarrhea. Won't happen again."

"Who the hell is that?" the one-eyed man snapped.

"Xander Harris," Xander said, stepping forward while simultaneously snapping off a salute. "I'm from Earth, which I'm told is a very big deal around here."

"Earth?" A woman, whom Xander assumed was President Laura Roslin, questioned.

"Yes, ma'am."

"How is this possible?" Roslin asked, turning to Adama.

"We're not sure. As a matter of fact I'm not completely certain that this isn't some kind of ploy that he and Baltar cooked up."

Baltar opened his mouth to protest but the blonde in the fatigues cut him off. "He's telling the truth," she said. Instantly, all eyes were on her.

"How do you know?" Roslin asked.

"I saw him," she replied. "On Earth."

88

Jack looked into the cell that Eden Lord was being held in. Although the young woman had been through hell, almost literally, he felt no remorse for her. Especially after what she'd done to Tosh. He walked into the cell, staring at her face, which was still heavily bruised. "Are you ready to talk yet?"

The woman's look all but answered his question.

Jack sighed. "You need to tell us everything, Eden. And you will...one or another." He quietly left the room, nodding to Spike who stood in the shadows. "Do what you have to," he said, his voice sounding broken.

Spike grinned but there was little joy in it. "I haven't used the pliers in awhile."

Two minutes later, the sounds of Eden's screams filled the Torchwood cells.

88

The Doctor flipped another switch, backing up as the TARDIS hurtled through the sixties at a speed he'd previously never traveled before. It was his fault that Xander had fallen into the Time Vortex and he was going to make it right. Even if it meant searching for the young man for the rest of time. He'd do it.


	14. Homecomings, Superheroes, and a Bad Man

**Author Notes:** Sorry it's been so long. My fiancee was in a bad car accident and she takes precedence over everything else. But now that she's doing better, I can finally get around to this again.

**Be Warned This Story is Not Beta Read**

**Pairing:** Xander/Gwen, Jack/Ianto, Owen/Tosh, The Doctor/Rose, Buffy/Angel, Willow/Kennedy, Dawn/Conner, Mickey/Martha, Spike/Illyria, Andrew/Vi

**Summary:** Xander's life changes when he becomes involved with another secret organization: Torchwood.

**Crossovers**: Torchwood, Doctor Who, Heroes, Battlestar Galactica, Chuck, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Blade (the movies), Hellblazer, Transformers (the movie), Smallville, Supernatural, House, Charmed, The L Word, Hellboy (the movie), Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter, Bionic Woman (2007), Bones, Friday Night Lights, Nip/Tuck, Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles, Lost, Alias, Eli Stone,

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Doctor Who, Torchwood or their characters. (Although I do wish I owned Dawn and Gwen.)

**Rating: **R for strong language, some violence, and sexual situations

**Season: **Post "Chosen"/"Not Fade Away"in the Buffyverse; Post "The Last of the Time Lords"/"End of Days" in the Doctor Who worlds

**Category:** Action/Drama/Humor/Romance

**Spoilers:** Basic Knowledge of Doctor Who (2005) and Torchwood as well as all of Buffy and Angel

88

"So are things always this tense or am I just lucky enough to have been dumped into the middle of a really bad week?"

Baltar smiled slightly at Xander's question. "A little of both, I'm afraid."

Xander nodded and looked down at the tray in front of him. "Is all this really necessary?" Despite Kara Thrace coming to his aide and claiming that she somehow knew he was from Earth, President Roslin had still ordered him to be thrown into the brig.

"No, but Roslin isn't always one for reasoning," Baltar replied, disdain flicking across his features.

There was the sound of a muffled conversation outside and the door open to reveal Kara and two Cylons Xander had learned were named Leoben and Natalie. He'd also learned that Natalie was a Six, a copy of the same Cylon who seduced Baltar, which explained why the man was always nervous when she was around. "Gaius," Kara greeted cooly. "Can we have a word with Xander?"

"Of course." The doctor sent Xander a brief, tense, smile and then departed.

Xander sighed and dropped his fork back onto his tray. "What can I do for you?"

"We have an alliance with Roslin and Adama," Natalie began, "one that we fear will fall apart at the first sign of trouble."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Take our side," Leoben answered. "Sooner or later Adama and Roslin will be forced to accept the truth about you and when that happens they will have you on their side and will no longer need us to find the way to Earth."

"I'm not going to pick sides," Xander replied. "It's not in my nature. Adama seems like the type to keep his end of a bargain. Besides, I may be from Earth but that doesn't mean I know the way there."

Natalie stepped forward, her eyes begging Xander to change his mind. "Please...you're our last chance at making this work."

"No one's going to die," Xander said. "I promise."

88

Over the course of the next week, tensions in the fleet continued to boil. Baltar and Natalie became Xander's most frequent visitors; each filling Xander in on what they knew about the escalating situation. During a particularly tense night, Natalie had come down to his cell to keep him company. Xander later learned that on that night, Adama had launched an attack on a Cylon resurrection hub and rendered all Cylons mortal; he'd also unboxed Number Three, whatever the hell that meant. Since that night, Natalie had not been to see him but Baltar had informed Xander that the Three, who called herself D'Anna, had revealed the identities of four Cylons among the fleet who had given the them the directions to Earth, albeit inadvertently.

Finally, after almost two weeks in the brig, Adama paid him a visit. "We've found Earth," he said.

"Hey, good for you!" Xander grinned facetiously.

"We need your assistance, Mr. Harris."

"With what?"

"Assimilation. Your existence is proof that there is life on Earth; we'd like you to help us understand your culture so that we may fit in."

"You lock me away for almost two weeks, thinking I'm some kind of nut, and now you want me to help you?"

Adama sighed, his scowl showing he didn't like the situation much better than Xander did. "We may have been a little...hasty in placing you in here."

"You think?"

"Mr. Harris," Adama said, his voice barely hiding his rising anger, "will you help us or not?"

Xander stood so that he looked Adama in the eye. "On one condition."

88

Adama and two armed guards led Xander into the familiar setting of the conference room; gathered inside were President Roslin, the Vice President, the Quorum, Adama's son Lee, Kara Thrace, Natalie, D'Anna, the four Cylons D'Anna had outed, Dr. Baltar, and the prisoner Number Six. "The gang's all here?" Xander asked flippantly, earning him some grim faces. "Not the time for jokes, then?"

"Why are we letting this frakkin' jokester out of the brig?" Colonel Tigh, who Xander had learned was a Cylon, demanded.

"Maybe for the same reason you still have a job after being outed," Xander shot back.

Tigh seemed ready to burst but a hand from Number Six on his arm calmed him. _'Interesting,' _Xander thought to himself.

"Mr. Harris has agreed to help us," Adama said. "On one condition."

"Which is?" Roslin spoke.

"Nobody kills anybody," Xander said, giving Natalie a look.

"What the hell does that mean?" Tigh barked.

"You're unpleasant," Xander snapped back. He heard Kara stifle a laugh. "What it means is that from this moment on, no Cylon will harm a human and no human will harm a Cylon."

"What?" Xander looked to Roslin, who seemed to be astounded at his words.

"You've already given Natalie and the rebels your word, Madame President," Xander said. "Don't take it back."

"And suppose we do?" Roslin asked. "What happens? I assume we can acclimate very well to Earth with or without you."

"You won't," Xander replied. "Most people on Earth still refuse to accept life beyond the planet. Not to mention all the differences of cultures...and UNIT."

"UNIT?"

"They're a specially designated branch of our government designed to combat extraterrestrial threats. And if you don't have the proper access code or remained unidentified...then your fleet won't last very long, I'm afraid."

"Are you threatening us?" Adama asked.

"No, just letting know the situation you're in." He glanced around the room. "Now, do we have a deal?"

Adama and Roslin looked at each other. "Very well," the Admiral relented.

"Good. Now, first things first, on Earth there are many different religions..."

88

Xander stood with Baltar, his face unreadable. "What is this, Xander?" the doctor asked.

"I have no idea." Xander's suspicions about something being off where raised when there was no contact from Earth after the fleet had jumped into orbit; after landing on the planet with Adama and the others, he discovered why; The planet was a wasteland. Minor, though not dangerous, levels of radiation hung around and there was wreckage of what clearly was formerly a city lying before them.

Adama appeared before them. "Do you have any idea what caused this?"

Xander had a sneaking suspicion but chose to remain silent on the matter. "No, sir. The last time I was on Earth...well, I can't really remember the last time I was on Earth so..."

"After all this time," Baltar sighed, "this is what we've been searching for?"

"We'll make the best of this doctor," Adama said, somewhat forcefully. "We always do."

Baltar didn't seem particularly calmed by Adama's statement but he remained silent. "What now?" Xander broke in.

"Now, we begin settlement. For the time being at least."

88

**One Year Later...**

The temporary settlement that Adama had promised had turned, reluctantly, into a somewhat more permanent stay following the tragic death of Laura Roslin due to her cancer. Although the old man refused to admit it, he seemed defeated by her death and unwilling to go on. Despite this, under the leadership of new President Lee Adama, the colonization of Earth continued and blossomed as best it could given the unfortunate circumstances. Xander had helped Natalie and Baltar set up an organization dedicated to the successful integration of humans and Cylon; it had been difficult at first but things ran more smoothly when Lee rose to power.

After the group got up and running, Xander retreated to a less occupied area and set up a home. Baltar and Caprica Six, who had left Col. Tigh weeks after settlement began, lived next door. Xander had also begun dating Natalie, which made dinners with Baltar and Six a little awkward, but for the most part everyone was happy. Except, of course, for Xander, who every now and then had dreams of his former life and would retreat into a depression. But after a week or so, he'd come out of it and be fine again.

Things all changed one day when he got an urgent call from Lee's Vice President. "Mr. Harris," came the voice over the phone. "We have a situation."

Xander glanced at the clock and noted the time. _'3: 15 a.m. Wonderful.' _"What kind of situation?"

"Sir...there's a blue box outside the President's home."

88

Xander reached Lee's house in record time. Sure enough, just outside of the house, stood the TARDIS. It was completely surrounded by Commander Kara Thrace and her men with Lee and his father standing nearby. "Xander," Lee greeted, "you've mentioned something like this before; and that is the only reason it's still here."

"Thanks," Xander nodded. He pushed his way through Kara's men and approached the TARDIS. "Hey, Doc," Xander grinned. "What's up?"

Instantly, the doors to the TARDIS flew open and the Doctor came out, grinning like a madman. "Alexander Lavelle Harris! Do you know how much of a fright you gave me?"

88

"There! That should do it!" The Doctor stood back from Galactica's FTL drive, a grin on his face. "This bad boy's now hooked up to the TARDIS. You just send out a signal to the rest of the fleet and-viola!-21st century, here we come."

"Time travel?" Tigh asked, not bothering to hide his disbelief.

"Yeah," the Doctor nodded. "Time travel." Off of the Colonel's look he added, "Isn't any weirder than robots looking like humans, is it?"

"I suppose not."

The Doctor smiled and walked over to Xander. "Torchwood's going to be very excited to see you. And I suppose the Council will be, too."

"Who are they?" Xander turned to see Natalie, along with Lee and Baltar, approaching.

"Old friends," Xander explained, taking her hand.

The Doctor noticed this and appeared to be surprised. "You two?" he asked, pointing between them.

"Yeah."

"Oh." The Doctor smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "That ought to be interesting,"he muttered to himself.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." The Doctor flashed his best smile at Natalie and said, "Might I steal your boyfriend for a moment?"

"Of course."

The Doctor grabbed Xander and led him to a secluded spot in the CIC. "Listen, before I take you back, I need to know. What do you remember?"

Xander sighed, glad that the Doctor had finally gotten around to this. "I remember going to intercept the Master and those Dalek things but after that it's a blur."

"I figured," The Doctor said. "It's to be expected after what happened."

"Why, what happened?"

"We arrived and discovered the Master was attempting to open the Time Vortex. We don't know why but he was muttering something about some 'Allspark' or something. The Daleks gave us a run for our money but we held them off...until Sylar showed up. Somehow, he and the Master had already been in contact; he made short work of a good portion of our group and gave the Master enough time to open the Vortex. That would've been it but Jack attacked Sylar and you ran in right after him..." The Doctor broke off, looking as if the memories were still getting to him.

"Sylar threw Jack aside and turned his attention to you. That's when you launched yourself at him...he lost his balance and the two of you fell through the Vortex."

"I thought that was fatal," Xander breathed.

"It should've been," The Doctor conceded. "But Sylar's powers effectively saved you both from being torn apart. The two of you were just thrown through space and time."

"And where's Sylar and the Master now?"

"The Master escaped in the melee," the Doctor grimaced. "As for Sylar...no idea. He could turn up literally anywhere at anytime."

Xander stood silent for a few minutes. "You said Sylar killed people. Anyone I knew?" The look on the face of the Doctor was all Xander needed to see.

88

Captain Jack Harkness stood on the deck of the deck of the _Valiant_ wondering what the Doctor's 'surprise' was. The Time Lord had vanished a few months back, determined to find Xander and while Jack had initially thought it to be a doomed mission the recent message from the Doctor left him slightly hopeful that the young man had not only survived but that the Doctor had found him.

Gwen appeared at his side, a frown crossing her face. "Any contact yet?" Jack asked, trying to keep the hope out of his voice.

"Nothing."

Jack placed a reassuring hand on Gwen's shoulder. "Don't worry," he said, "whatever it is that the Doctor has found, it won't be bad." It was at that moment that an entire fleet of ships suddenly materialized in the clouds ahead of them. "Holy crap," Jack whispered.

Sirens began blaring on the deck of the _Valiant _and military personnel began scrambling about-until, quite suddenly, the sound of the TARDIS filled the area and everyone paused in what they were doing to watch the time machine appear on the deck. The door quickly flew open and The Doctor emerged. "They're with me!" he hurriedly shouted, pointing at the fleet.

Jack gave the signal to stand down to the crew and marched over to the Doctor, Gwen close behind. "Who are they?" Jack asked.

"Refugees," the Doctor answered. "From the future. Humans...well, most of 'em anyway."

"Care to explain?"

"Of course...just as soon as you see my surprise."

Jack glanced at Gwen and saw the same hopeful look on her face that he knew must be on his. "Why don't you come on out, mate?" the Doctor called into the TARDIS.

Without further preamble, Xander stepped out. "Hey, guys."

88

Bruce Wayne straightened his tie and double-checked the contents of his briefcase. "Everything in order, sir?" Alfred's voice came from the front of the car.

Bruce nodded the affirmative and stepped out of the car. "I'll be here waiting, sir," Alfred informed him, as if the man would go anywhere else.

Glancing up at the imposing structure before him, Bruce once again steeled himself for what he had to do. Lex Luthor may have been several years younger than himself but the man already had a reputation for being cutthroat and unwillingly to compromise. _'Just like his father.' _

Under normal circumstances Bruce would have tried to avoid doing business with any of the Luthors at all; but Lex had called and offered him the chance to get his hands on innovative technology which he said would revolutionize everything that was to come. Bruce was too shrewd a businessman to let that opportunity slip by him. However, the normally pristine and calm facade of the Luthor's mansion in Smallville seemed to have been broken; as if whatever turmoil was going on inside was breaking free of the walls and spilling onto the grounds surrounding them.

Before he could even knock, the door flew open and he was face-to-face with an enraged Lex Luthor. The young man had just hung up his cellphone and there was no doubt in Bruce's mind that whoever had been on the other end of the call had gotten an earful. "Mr. Wayne," Lex said, surprise clearly registering on his face. "What are you doing here? Didn't you get my message last night?"

Bruce hadn't received any message as both he and Alfred had been quite tied up with The Riddler's latest escapade. "No, I'm sorry, I didn't."

"Well, the meeting's off," Luthor said. "My, uh, technology was stolen."

"What? Is there anything I can do?"

A van pulled up in the front yard and Bruce recognized the distinct logo of the Berkut Group. "I have this handled, thank you," Lex said, pushing past Bruce. "Terribly sorry you had to come down here," he tossed over his shoulder. "We'll have to talk shop some other time."

Bruce nodded, though Luthor was now immersed in conversation two men dressed in matching black suit. He quietly reentered his car and ordered Alfred to take him back to his hotel. "What now?" the manservant inquired.

Bruce glanced at the van and felt a familiar sinking sensastion in his gut. "Now, I find out exactly what Luthor's been up to."

88

Sylar fought against his restraints as hard as he could but it was no use. Whatever metal the chains binding him had been made of, it was indestructible, even by his standards; especially since his abilities seemed to have disappeared ever since his fall through the Vortex. He didn't know where he was or long he'd been there but he did know that being someone's captive was not something particularly pleasant. He'd been locked away in drab, stone room with his only contact being the strange creatures who brought him food that made him want to starve himself to death. He could hear howls of agony coming through the walls and realized that wherever he was, he had to get out fast.

The door to his cell opened and the squat, stone-like creatures who were his keepers entered. Instead of the usual plate of disgusting scraps, the ghoulish guards held a collar attached to a long handle. It was quickly fastened to his neck and he was grabbed to his feet and shoved outside, where his head was promptly enveloped in a sack. He was led down numerous twisting halls, the screams rising and falling in volume, until finally he was forced to his knees and the sack was removed.

He was kneeling in some sort of grand hall, although it was dark and macabre as opposed to the usual opulence displayed by rich people. Then again, judging by the look of the man sitting on what Sylar guessed was a throne, he was quite sure he wasn't even on Earth anymore. "Human," the man spoke, his voice sounding like the rumble of thunder. "What is your name?"

"Sylar." Something told him not to mess with the man, monster really, in front of him until his powers were restored.

"You come from Earth?"

"Yes."

"Tell me of it."

Sylar could feel a trickle of sweat roll down his brow and he cursed himself for it. "What do you want to know?"

"Is it protected?"

Sylar thought of Torchwood. "In a way, yes."

The monster roared and for a second Sylar thought it was the end. Then, with a sigh of relief, he realized that man before him was actually laughing. "There is no one who can stand up to me, human," he bellowed. "Do you not no who I am?"

Sylar shook his head carefully, not wanting to upset his captor.

"Don't worry," the creature grinned. "Soon you're whole planet will know my name; the name of Lord Darkseid!"


	15. Connect the Dots

**Author Notes:** I wanna thank all of you for your support; this story is much bigger than I had planned and it takes longer to update than I usually like but I think it's for the better. And to CuriousKitty, I know that Cardiff and London are far apart; I just had a momentary brain-fart that I lamely try to fix in this chapter. Please forgive a stupid American for forgetting that Cardiff's in Wales? Also, this chapter's really short but it felt like a good place to stop.

**Be Warned This Story is Not Beta Read**

**Summary:** Xander's life changes when he becomes involved with another secret organization: Torchwood.

**Crossovers**: Torchwood, Doctor Who, Heroes, Battlestar Galactica, Chuck, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Blade (the movies), Hellblazer, Transformers (the movie), Smallville, Supernatural, House, Charmed, The L Word, Hellboy (the movie), Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter, Bionic Woman (2007), Bones, Friday Night Lights, Nip/Tuck, Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles, Lost, Alias, Eli Stone

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Doctor Who, Torchwood or their characters. (Although I do wish I owned Dawn and Gwen.)

**Rating: **R for strong language, some violence, and sexual situations

**Season: **Post "Chosen"/"Not Fade Away"in the Buffyverse; Post "The Last of the Time Lords"/"End of Days" in the Doctor Who worlds

**Category:** Action/Drama/Humor/Romance

**Spoilers:** Basic Knowledge of Doctor Who (2005) and Torchwood as well as all of Buffy and Angel

88

As far as homecomings go, Xander felt that his was one of the best. As close as he had become to Baltar and the others during his time away, seeing Willow and all of his old friends instantly made him feel home again. Things did get a little depressing during the festivities after Giles showed him the final resting places of those who had been killed by Sylar; Buffy, Tosh, Martha, Rona, Saracen, and Wood were the names that hurt the most to see but sadly, like he had learned years ago, Xander knew that he would be okay and could move on. The one true black cloud that hung over everyone was their uncertainty about Sylar's whereabouts. Just knowing that the killer was still out there, and could literally turn up at any moment, made those who'd encountered him very nervous.

Eventually though, happiness won out and Xander's return was celebrated with enough heartwarming moments to make up an entire warehouse of Hallmark cards. As the night wore down, Jack ordered everyone home; reminding them that in the following days they'd have to get Adama and the fleet assimilated.

As the party broke up, Jack clasped his arm around Xander. "It's good to have you, home," he grinned, winking. "Everyone missed you."

Xander glanced over Jack's shoulder, where Gwen stood with Tyra. At first, she had seemed to be the most excited to see him; until, that is, Natalie had introduced herself. Since then, Gwen had been quiet and withdrawn, hardly speaking to him at all. And that made Xander wonder; could Gwen be in love with him?

88

The balance demon known as Whistler was known for many things; a sarcastic sense of humor, a love of fedoras, and an incredibly horrid sense of fashion. Patience, however, was not one of those things. So when the man he was supposed to meet showed up an hour late, he gave him an earful until the man was forced to apologize. (Something the man was not known for doing.)

"So why am I here exactly?" the man asked, playing with his lighter.

Whistler watched the tiny flame appear and then disappear for a moment before answering. "Think of this as a recruitment of sorts."

"Recruitment? For what?"

Whistler crossed his arms and nonchalantly scanned the street around them. "Alright, here's the deal. Dark, dark mojo is gathering. The Powers That Be didn't even see these guys coming; they were busy looking elsewhere. But they screwed up and now the world's in a whole mess of trouble."

"And I help how?"

"I've been sent to get as much help as I can. We're building an army." The man's mouth twitched into what almost resembled a grin. "And you, John Constantine, are gonna be part of it."

88

Xander rubbed his eye blearily, having not gotten any sleep the night before; between his homecoming, preparations for Adama and the others, and the stack of folders Jack had given him to read, Xander wasn't sure he'd ever get to sleep again. Suddenly, Natalie appeared at his side, a soft smile gracing her face. "Late night?" she asked.

"The latest," he sighed, leaning back in his chair.

Natalie only smiled wider and stepped out of view. "Well, maybe I can make things easier for you," she purred into his ear, now directly behind him. As she softly began kneading his shoulders all of the tension of the last few hours drained away. "You know something, Natalie? I think I love you."

Soft kisses on the neck were his only reply. Xander slowly pushed himself around, so that he could face her. Gently, he pulled her onto his lap and kissed her. That's when Gwen appeared in the doorway to his office, a look of anguish briefly crossing her face. "Sorry to interrupt but Jack wants a word with Xander," she said, trying to conceal her hurt.

Xander felt a momentary stab of guilt at the look on Gwen's face but forced himself to push it away. "Duty calls, love," he said to Natalie, lightly kissing her nose before standing.

Xander ducked out, once again feeling bad at the way Gwen hurried off as if staying a moment longer would cause her serious harm. Once inside Jack's office, Xander's mood only grew worse as he instantly recognized the look on the immortal's face. "What? What happened now?"

Jack glanced at Xander with a look of such unadulterated fear that Xander didn't know what to do for a moment. "It's all been connected."

"What? What's been connected?"

"Everything," Jack said, the blank look on his face worrying Xander.

The younger man took a seat across from his friend and leaned forward, attempting to make eye contact. Once he was successful in doing so, he continued. "Jack, start at the beginning; how is everything connected?"

"In the worst possible way." He paused, once again lost in his thoughts. "The Doctor and I talked last night...It started with you."

"Me?"

"The Weevil attack on Gwen; Weevils had never been that far away from the rift before. I just thought that they were growing more dangerous, more daring but...but then somehow there was that energy transfer between us." Xander squirmed at the thought. "That's never happened before...and surely you noticed that somehow the trip from your place in London to Torchwood was way too short." Xander vaguely remembered Spike asking how the trip to Cardiff went by so fast. "Something was manipulating time, Xander; I should have seen it before."

"How do you know?"

"I asked the Doctor to run some tests with the TARDIS. He confirmed it. Someone wanted you here as quickly as possible."

Xander felt an ominous chill run down his spine. "Who?"

"I have no idea," Jack confessed. "But I took the liberty of trying to find out why." He picked a folder up off his desk and passed it to Xander. "Your medical history."

"What does this have to with anything?"

"Look at your blood, Xander. Notice anything strange?"

Xander, feeling more and more troubled with each passing second, looked. And gasped at what he saw. "I'm...I have...oh, my god..."

"You're one of them," Jack said, a grim look on his face. "You're half-Cylon."

Xander's head felt like it would explode under the weight of this revelation. "No...how can that be?"

"Do the names Saul and Ellen Tigh ring a bell?"

Xander dropped the folder. "You mean....Tigh is my father?"

"The DNA samples, if they can be called that, match," Jack nodded, handing Xander a file marked 'Tigh, Saul'.

"But how?" Xander muttered, not taking the file.

Jack sighed. "The Doctor and I used a special device we have here at the Hub; it reclaims forgotten memories. It seems that Tigh and his wife had a child when they were younger but someone took it from them and erased all traces of it."

"The same someone who made sure I ended up here?" Xander spoke, anger and fear in his voice.

Jack nodded. "And the same someone who ripped the rift open in order to bring Rose back here."

"How do you know?"

"Because Rose doesn't remember anything leading up to her return here; and when used the device to restore her memories, whatever had done it left the same trace of power as with Tigh."

"But why bring Rose back?"

"Because of the Doctor. She's his weakness; if she's around he'll be worried about her and may not be at the top of his game. Put her life in danger and you have a distraught Time Lord."

"And a distraught Time Lord is a sloppy Time Lord," Xander said, realization hitting him.

"Exactly."

"But that only works if whoever's doing this knew that the Doctor would be here," Xander retorted, his head spinning. "And they couldn't know that unless..."

"Unless they made sure the Doctor would come?" Jack finished.

"They couldn't have," Xander countered. "The Doctor knew about Sylar and the Master and what would happen if they joined forces; the Seer told him."

"The Seer on the far away planet, who before that had never had as successful vision?" Jack replied.

Xander now understood Jack's look of fear when he had first entered. If what he was saying was true then something incredibly powerful was out there, manipulating things. "So if this person feed the Seer a false vision then that means..." He trailed off as the implications hit him.

"They brought Sylar and the Master together," Jack said. "And more than likely gave the Master the small arsenal of Daleks he had with him."

"And kept the Master alive after his last death," Xander added. "But why?"

"Well, the Master talked about something called the Allspark and seemed obsessed with finding it."

"You think the Master was doing this guy's dirty work?"

"Some of it," Jack confirmed. "The other part Sylar did; albeit unknowingly."

"You don't mean taking me through the Vortex do you?"

"That's exactly what I mean," Jack said. "There aren't many beings powerful enough to survive a fall through the vortex, let alone save someone else as they fall."

"But why would they do that? Why would they want me to be hurtled across the universe like that?"

"Because of where you landed, Xander. The same place you were born; a place where there is an army of Cylons looking for Earth and will do anything to find it."

"So I was sent back to where I came from so this mystery guy could find himself an army?"

"Well, he certainly couldn't go back to where he'd found you; the Colonies had been destroyed. He needed to send you back there so he could follow the trail back."

"He controlled the time vortex enough to send me where he wanted to?"

"Loosely, yes." Jack took a deep breath. "And I'm willingly to bet he did the same with Sylar."

"That can't be good."

"There's just one piece that doesn't gel," Jack added.

"What's that?"

"Why did he bring you here? And why is he willing to do things that he must know are bound to bring people together? Like Torchwood and the Council? Or us and Adama's fleet?"

A chilling thought struck Xander. "Maybe...maybe he wants us all here. Together."

"But why?"

"So he can take us all out at once." Jack's face grew pale. Xander continued, "I mean, why else does he need an army?" Xander looked Jack in the eye. "He's starting a war."


	16. A Wrinkle in Time

**Author Notes: **Sorry it's been awhile but I wanted to wait for Battlestar Galactica to end before updating again. It's a little shorter than normal but it felt like an okay place to stop; hopefully the next chapter won't take so long.

**Be Warned This Story is Not Beta Read**

**Summary:** Xander's life changes when he becomes involved with another secret organization: Torchwood.

**Crossovers**: Torchwood, Doctor Who, Heroes, Battlestar Galactica, Chuck, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Blade (the movies), Hellblazer, Transformers (the movie), Smallville, Supernatural, House, Charmed, The L Word, Hellboy (the movie), Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter, Bionic Woman (2007), Bones, Friday Night Lights, Nip/Tuck, Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles, Lost, Alias

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Doctor Who, Torchwood or their characters. (Although I do wish I owned Dawn and Gwen.)

**Rating: **R for strong language, some violence, and sexual situations

**Season: **Post "Chosen"/"Not Fade Away" in the Buffyverse; Post "The Last of the Time Lords"/"End of Days" in the Doctor Who worlds

**Category:** Action/Drama/Humor/Romance

**Spoilers:** Basic Knowledge of Doctor Who (2005) and Torchwood as well as all of Buffy and Angel

88

The following morning Jack called the group together for an impromptu meeting at the Watcher's Council headquarters, during which he informed everyone of the discoveries he and Xander had made. The man's report was meet with a grave silence. "You really think that there's something powerful enough out there to pull off what you're talking about?" Tyra asked.

"Yeah," Jack nodded grimly. "But luckily, there can't be a whole lot of things powerful enough to pull it off." He looked at Giles. "You think you can get together a team of Watchers and start researching this thing?"

"Of course," the Head Watcher replied.

"I'll check with some of my contacts," Willow offered. "See if anything turns up."

Jack nodded his thanks and dismissed the group.

"Xander!" The young man turned to see Tigh, looking as unsure of himself as Xander had ever seen, walking toward him. "Can we talk?"

Xander thought it over for a minute, not quite sure if he was ready for the conversation that was about to take place. _'It's now or never,' _he told himself. Looking into the Colonel's eye, his supposed father's eye, sealed the deal. "Alright, let's go someplace quiet."

88

Lex Luthor watched the grainy surveillance video footage, anger rising up in him as several masked men in military outfits blew the doors to the hangar bay where the alien was being kept off of it's hinges. Just outside the now gaping hole in the wall he could see more men, along with what appeared to be two more of the same alien species he had captured, keeping his considerable forces at bay. He'd already watched that footage.

The men went about destroying the counsel that operated the electronic cage that was containing the alien resulting in a power wave that wiped out all electricity within a mile radius; including the surveillance cameras. "Is that it?" Lex asked, once the screen dissolved into snow.

"Yes, sir," the technician responded, sweat falling from the man's brow.

Lex turned to his assistant, a beautiful and deadly young woman named Tess, and asked, "Any clues as to whose men these were?"

Tess shook her head. "No, sir. There were no know insignia's on their uniforms or the vehicles they entered on and the masks they wore made it impossible to get a positive identification on any of them."

Seething, Lex turned back to the technician. "Play it again," he snapped. He'd find these men, he was sure of it, and when he did there would be hell to pay.

88

Whistler stood nervously in the foyer of his next assignment's home, hoping against hope that he would not be killed on sight. While he was technically immortal, he still felt the pain of death and it was not very pleasant. The doors to the house opened and almost immediately Whistler found himself pinned to the wall by a very large, very angry, man.

"Who are you?" he bellowed, his voice sounding like thunder.

Whistler managed to grip the man's impressively muscled arms and, using what little demonic strength he had, was able to pry them away from his throat. "Artemis Fowl," he choked out, looking at the young man behind the shaved ape holding him up, "I need your help. Holly's too."

At the mention of Holly, who was a fairy, Artemis made a slight gesture and his bodyguard, Butler, released him. Whistler struggled to regain both his breath and his composure. "How do you know Holly?" Artemis demanded.

Noticing how close Butler remained to him, Whistler decided to forgo his usual flippant approach. "We need to talk, Artemis," Whistler said. "About the last four years."

88

Xander sat idly playing with the cup of coffee in front of him. He glanced at Tigh, sitting across the table from him, and sighed. They had found an unused room in the Council but once seated neither man had spoken. It had been uncomfortably quiet for the past five minutes.

"So…you're my real dad, huh?"

"No."

Tigh's response surprised and angered Xander. _'This son of a bitch is gonna deny me?' _"You're not?" he asked coldly.

"No," Tigh repeated, seemingly more interested in his cold coffee than in Xander. "Ellen…she ..well, she liked men. Liked them a lot." Xander's anger extinguished a little as he looked at Tigh, who was clearly having trouble saying what he was. "She's your mother," he said. "She's a Cylon…like me. But since your only half human…"

"Someone else is the father," he finished. Tigh's nod was barely noticeable. "That must be a relief for you, huh?"

Tigh finally looked at him in the face as he said, "To know my wife had a child with another man? Not really." He stood and made for the door. "Just for the record," he called over his shoulder, "I would've been proud to call you my son."

88

"It isn't over, you know."

The Cylon known as Caprica Six looked into the eyes of the figure standing over her; a figure who in every way imaginable looked like her Gaius but wasn't. "What isn't over?" she asked, fearful that she already knew the answer.

The Baltar duplicate smiled and squatted so that he was level with her. "Your destiny." He grinned as if he were about to deliver the punch line to a particularly funny joke. "You and Gaius haven't fulfilled God's plan yet."

"And what would that be?"

"Now, if I told you where would the fun be?" And with that, he vanished into thin air.

88

After his talk with Tigh, Xander retreated to his apartment hoping to prevent any more bombshells from falling on him. It wasn't until he'd arrived at the apartment complex that he realized it had been a year since actually being home; he wasn't even sure if he still had a place to call home. Luckily though, Xander noticed a beat-up black Mustang sitting in the parking lot with shoe polish smeared across it's windows.

Xander said a small thanks that Spike had set up shop in his old place; that is, until he saw what the vampire had done to the place. "What the hell, Spike?"

The bleached-blonde shrugged and said, "You were gone, mate. I made the place my own."

"By turning it into a pigsty?" Xander snapped, noticing for the first time the empty blood bags on the floor, scattered amongst the dirty towels and empty beer bottles.

"No one's complained yet," the vampire shot back.

Shaking his head in disgust, Xander informed his roommate that they would be cleaning up the place and restoring it to it's previous condition. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed."

If Xander had seen the grin that had crossed Spike's face at that statement, he might not entered the bedroom; and he definitely wouldn't have vomited.

88

"Thanks for helping me out," Xander said. "Spike isn't exactly the best housekeeper."

"You're telling me," Rhys responded, pulling a pair of black thongs from inside the couch cushions. "Please, tell me these aren't his," the man sighed, giving Xander a disgusted glance.

"Either way Rhys, it's not good."

The man, who had not so long ago been his rival, chuckled. "That's true." He quickly dropped the offending underwear into a rather large bag of garbage next to him. "Time for another refill," he said, glancing at the bulging bag. "Be back in a second."

As Rhys was on his way out The Doctor appeared, his normally manic expression grim. "What now?" Xander moaned, knowing that something bad was coming.

"We need to be in California as soon as possible," the Time Lord replied.

"Why?"

"Because of this," the Doctor answered, throwing a newspaper at Xander's feet. Leaning down to pick it up, Xander saw a photo of a group of teenagers standing in front a house in the midst of being constructed. "So a group of high school students volunteer for a Habitat for Humanity project and it's our problem?"

"Second row; third from the left."

Xander looked at the corresponding teen and felt a shiver of recognication. "She looks just like…"

"Eden Lord," the Doctor finished. "But we both know it's not her."

"Who is she?"

"Her name is Naomi Clark. Jack pulled her DNA. It's nowhere even close to being similar to Eden."

"So they aren't related?"

"I'm afraid not. But the existence of two identical girls can only mean one thing."

"It's not a good 'one thing' is it?" Xander asked, looking up.

"No. Temporal bleed."

Realization struck Xander. "The rift."

The Doctor nodded. "I don't know how but Rose being pulled through has created an anamoly. One that has obviously created a wrinkle."

Xander arched an eyebrow. "A wrinkle in time?"

The Doctor grinned. "Couldn't be helped. Anyway, the rift opening had effects on events going back at least sixteen years judging by Naomi's existence."

"But she clearly hasn't had an effect on things, right? I mean she doesn't have to die to reverse it or something?"

"God, no. It's just a bad omen which may explain how this mystery baddie is working their mojo."

"If she isn't a threat, then why do we have to go to California?"

"Do you remember that CIA agent who visited Jack before your little time romp through time? Sarah Walker?"

"Vaguely."

"Well, she called this morning. A man by the name of James Martin was found dead yesterday just outside of Beverly Hills. His head had been sliced opened across the forehead."

Xander felt his stomach drop. "He's back."


	17. Don't Kill the Messenger

**Author Notes:** Very long, very uncool break in between chapters. So sorry for that. Life gets in the way a lot. Anyway, this installment is short but gets us to a good cliffhanger and the first real idea of what the plot is. And yes, I'm aware getting to the point this late is stupid but the set-ups took awhile.

**Be Warned This Story is Not Beta Read**

**Summary:** Xander's life changes when he becomes involved with another secret organization: Torchwood.

**Crossovers**: Torchwood, Doctor Who, Heroes, Battlestar Galactica, Chuck, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Blade (the movies), Hellblazer, Transformers (the movie), Smallville, Supernatural, House, Charmed, The L Word, Hellboy (the movie), Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter, Bionic Woman (2007), Bones, Friday Night Lights, Nip/Tuck, Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles, Lost, Alias, Batman Begins/The Dark Knight, 90210, True Blood

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Doctor Who, Torchwood or their characters. (Although I do wish I owned Dawn and Gwen.)

**Rating: **R for strong language, some violence, and sexual situations

**Season: **Post "Chosen"/"Not Fade Away" in the Buffyverse; Post "The Last of the Time Lords"/"End of Days" in the Doctor Who worlds

**Category:** Action/Drama/Humor/Romance

**Spoilers:** Basic Knowledge of Doctor Who (2005) and Torchwood as well as all of Buffy and Angel

88

Xander looked down at the body of James Martin lying on the cold slab in front of him. It wasn't his first time in morgue (he'd been in quite a few of them in his time) but it never got any easier being there. Especially with the deaths of so many of his friends still fresh in his mind.

"Well?"

Xander was snapped out of reverie by the Doctor's voice. He glanced over at the other side of the slab where the Time Lord stood with Owen. "It's most definitely Sylar's handiwork," the human doctor confirmed.

"Great," Xander sighed. "This is all we need."

"Owen get on the phone to Jack and see if he can find Martin's name on Suresh's list," The Doctor said. "It might be useful to know what power Sylar has now."

"I'm on it."

"What are you doing in here?"

Xander turned to see the morgue assistant standing in the doorway. The Doctor held up a blank piece of paper and said, "FBI. We're investigating this man's murder. We'll just be a few minutes more." When the young man still looked unsure the Doctor added, "Go ask your boss. How do you think we got in here?"

This seemed to placate the young man. "Just let me know when you're done?"

"Of course," the Doctor smiled, winking at the young man in a reassuring way. Owen, who had retreated to a corner in the back to call Jack, reappeared at the Time Lord's side, a scowl on his features. "Bad news."

"Do we get any other kind?" Xander muttered.

"According to Gwen, Martin was listed on Suresh's list as being a shape-shifter."

Xander felt as if all the air in the room had been sucked out by Owen's statement. "You mean he could be anyone?"

"Anyone that he's touched since gaining the ability," Owen nodded.

Xander turned to face the Doctor, panic rising up in his chest. "How the hell are we supposed to stop him now?"

The Doctor placed a reassuring hand on Xander. "Calm down Xander, we'll just have to be a little more careful. Passwords, DNA checks, that sort of thing."

"I think the better question is how Sylar wound up back in the right spot," Owen interjected. "I mean if he was in the time vortex then how did he end up right back here?"

The Doctor paused and glanced at Martin's body. "I have a theory."

88

Xander was reading the file before him for the tenth time when Owen and the Doctor returned to the hotel room. "Tyra and Natalie are on their way," the Doctor reported, a tight smile on his face.

"Are you sure this will work?" Xander asked, putting the folder down.

"It's the best option we have," the Doctor sighed. "The odds that Sylar would somehow wind up here, in the exact place where a duplicate of the woman he 'loved' is living, are just too great. There has to be something more at work here."

"I really hope not."

"With our luck?" Owen cut in. "It'll be the bleedin' Devil himself."

88

Whistler looked at the three men, two men really, standing before him.

"We have the forces of Heaven and Hell after us," the not-so-much-a-man, in a trench coat that reminded Whistler of Constantine, said. "Which is why we came to you."

Whistler sighed. "Castiel, you will be the death of me."

The angel smiled; a rare occurrence. "I doubt that, my friend."

Whistler glanced at the brothers. "Well boys, how did like your time at Torchwood?"

"It was a blast," the eldest brother, Dean Winchester, replied sarcastically.

"Good. Cause you're going back."

88

"This all looks real," Xander said, indicating the file he was reading.

"That's because it is real," Owen replied, a condescending smile forming at his lips. "It's actually Tyra's school records."

Xander looked up and at the small group of people gathered around him. "I knew that."

"I'm sure," was Owen's snarky reply.

"Let's go over this once more, shall we?" the Doctor cut in, hoping to stave off a fight between the two men.

"Right," Tyra nodded. "I enroll at Naomi's school and try to get close to her and her friends. See if I can find any suspicious or strange things happening around her."

"Meanwhile, we stay close here for back-up and to keep our eyes open," Natalie finished, indicating herself and Angel, who had also made the trip.

"Good. And if you find Sylar, what then?"

"We call for help," Tyra answered, looking at the Doctor as if her were stupid for even thinking that they would try anything else.

"Great! Everyone knows their parts." He looked at Xander and Owen. "Shall we?"

Xander sighed. He was not looking forward to his part of the plan.

88

A few hours later, Xander stood in the TARDIS unsure if the Doctor's plan was going to work. Hell, he wasn't even sure if he wanted it to work. "How is this gonna work again?" Xander asked, trying to maintain a casual interest that belayed his absolute panic at what was about to be done.

"We're going to use the TARDIS' energy to tap into the nearest hellmouth and hopefully the Powers That Be will be alerted by our actions and send someone to investigate." The Doctor, who had been madly flipping instruments on the TARDIS' panel, paused in his work and scratched his head. "Of course, they might not send anyone and we could just wind up opening a hellmouth with only us to close it…." He cast a glance at Owen and Xander. "But I doubt that'll happen!"

"That fills me with confidence," Xander remarked. "I can't tell you how much."

The Doctor smiled and proceeded to hurriedly crank several levers, resulting in a shrill whine filling the TARDIS. "What is that?" Owen yelled above the din.

"That's our sign that it's working," The Doctor shouted back, looking more like a mad scientist working on his latest creation by the second. Suddenly, the entire ship shuddered and the sound of metal screeching could be heard. The Doctor stood back, sweat on his brow but smiling triumphantly. "Well, that worked splendidly." He turned to his companions. "We're now parked right in the middle of a hellmouth!"

"I so need new friends," Xander sighed.

88

"Are you sure this information is correct?"

Whistler, who was in the process of cleaning mud off of his shoes, glanced back up at the figure of Riley Finn. Finn was standing behind his desk, his arms crossed in a way that perfectly showed off the muscles under his shirt. Whistler could tell Finn thought the pose was intimidating and didn't really have the heart to break it to him that he just looked uncomfortable. "Unless the folks upstairs have started lying," Whistler countered, "then I think you can assume that this information, like you called it, is correct."

Finn worked his jaw and Whistler found he could practically hear the gears in the military man's head turning. "If what you're saying _is _true," at that he earned a particularly nasty look, "then Giles and the others are going to need our help."

"That's almost exactly what I just said," Whistler said, throwing his hands up in frustration. There really was no reaching some people.

Finn produced a cellphone from his back pocket and dialed a number almost without looking. "Sam," he began, "it's Riley. How fast can the AutoBots assemble?"

88

"This plan is working brilliantly," Owen remarked.

Xander and the Doctor sent matching glares Owen's way and the normally sour and argumentative man simply shrugged and turned away. "How much longer?" Xander asked the Doctor, once Owen had lapsed back into silence.

"I don't know," the Doctor admitted. "We can't risk keeping the Hellmouth open for too long but if we don't give this a chance to work than we may never know who is behind all of this."

"I should have known."

Xander and the Doctor jumped at the new voice in the TARDIS. "Only the Doctor could have come up with something this absurdly brilliant." Owen stood before them but it was clear to both men that it was not the human doctor speaking to them. Not only was his voice deeper and more somber but Owen's eyes glowed an unearthly yellow.

"Who are you?" The Doctor demanded, standing in front of Xander as if he were a shield. "What have you done to Owen?"

"Relax, Doctor," the thing in Owen said, gesturing to the Time Lord to sit. "Dr. Harper is not being harmed by my presence."

"Who are you?" the Doctor repeated.

Owen's body smiled. "Did you not wish to speak with a representative of the Powers?"

"You're a messenger?" Xander asked, moving out from behind the Doctor.

"If you feel inclined to call me so then yes, that is what I am." The Messenger's yellow eyes darted between the two men. "I believe you have something to ask of me."

The Doctor shook his head, as if coming out of a trance. "Yes! Of course." Glancing at Xander, the Time Lord spoke. "We want to know who has been manipulating these events. Some powerful being is planning something and I don't know what is but it can't be good."

The Messenger nodded. "Correct. There is something manipulating things to their will."

"Why?"

The Messenger sighed. "I'm afraid it is the same as always: the destruction of everything as we know it."

"You mean the end of the world," Xander said.

"No, Xander. Not the world." The Messenger's glowing eyes seemed to shine dimmer, as if he was sympathizing with Xander. "This time the fate of the universe and existence itself hangs in the balance. And it will not be an easy task to overcome."

"Yeah," Xander nodded. "I really wasn't thinking, 'Boy, saving the universe sounds easy.'"

The Messenger gave a small smile. "You truly don't understand. The being behind all of this…is God."


	18. I Believe the Children Are Our Future

**Author Notes:** Know it's been awhile but my computer crashed and I lost everything. It took a long time to get my crap back but unfortunately this story was gone so I had to start from scratch. Anyway, this chapter is wholly exposition and it's a lot of information and retconning of some established cannons but the plot of this thing lies in this chapter. If you understand it all, good job! There's a gold star next chapter. Some of you fans of comic books might even know where this is going; if so, you have excellent taste.

**Be Warned This Story is Not Beta Read**

**Summary:** Xander's life changes when he becomes involved with another secret organization: Torchwood.

**Crossovers**: Torchwood, Doctor Who, Heroes, Battlestar Galactica, Chuck, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Blade (the movies), Hellblazer, Transformers (the movie), Smallville, Supernatural, House, Charmed, The L Word, Hellboy (the movie), Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter, Bionic Woman (2007), Bones, Friday Night Lights, Nip/Tuck, Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles, Lost, Alias, Batman Begins/The Dark Knight, 90210, True Blood

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Doctor Who, Torchwood or their characters. (Although I do wish I owned Dawn and Gwen.)

**Rating: **R for strong language, some violence, and sexual situations

**Season: **Post "Chosen"/"Not Fade Away" in the Buffyverse; Post "The Last of the Time Lords"/"End of Days" in the Doctor Who worlds

**Category:** Action/Drama/Humor/Romance

**Spoilers:** Basic Knowledge of Doctor Who (2005) and Torchwood as well as all of Buffy and Angel

88

"God? As in the almighty?"

The Messenger nodded gravely. "Yes, the being known as Yahweh is intent on destroying his creation."

Xander stood dumbfounded for a few moments before his voice was able to catch up with his mouth. "But why?"

The Messenger cocked a sardonic eyebrow. "Have you seen the state of your planet, recently? War, genocide, rape, racism, sexism, intolerance, greed. Do I need to continue?"

"So that's it?" Xander demanded, starting for the Messenger. "We don't get a second chance?"

"But you have, Xander," the Messenger replied sadly. "You've been given so many second chances as a people. All of them squandered. Yahweh simply can't stand to be heartbroken anymore."

"Well, boohoo!" Xander snapped. "I feel so sorry for the all powerful God! There are millions of people on this planet that don't deserve to die!"

"There are quadrillions of innocents throughout existence, all of whom will perish when Yahweh gets his way." The Messenger reached out to put a comforting hand on Xander's shoulder. "He wishes to start anew. Do away with all the pain in this universe and give life to new beings who are truly innocent of any misdeed or crime committed in the past by their ancestors."

Xander roughly shrugged the Messenger's hand away. "And we die? All of us?"

"I'm afraid so."

Xander backed away, shaking his head as tears formed and the weight of everything the Messenger said came down on him. It couldn't end this way…there had to be a way out. But how could you defeat God?

"There is a child," the Messenger spoke, as if answering Xander's unasked question. "A child who could save us all."

"Who?"

"You know her as Hera."

Xander felt as if an invisible hand had slapped him hard across the face. "Helo and Athena's daughter?"

The Messenger shook his head. "She is not their daughter. She is neither human or Cylon." The Messenger briefly glanced at the TARDIS council as if debating to go any further with the story. Finally, after a few agonizing seconds, he continued, "She cannot stay with Karl and Sharon. They are not her destiny."

Suddenly, Xander found himself recalling a conversation he'd had with Baltar on the alternate Earth the Colonials had discovered. Baltar had recently gotten back together with Caprica Six and he and Xander had gone to Joe's Bar to celebrate; Baltar had drank to much and when Xander brought him home, the scientist had begun talking. He'd told Xander all about the mysterious being that he and Caprica Six saw, beings who looked exactly like Six and Baltar and claimed to be angels guiding them along their path. 'Angels' who'd told Baltar and Caprica Six that Hera was their child and had to protected at all costs; that Hera was the 'shape of things to come.'

"You need to tell us everything," Xander said, the recollection of Baltar's confession weighing heavily on him.

"I would be glad to," the Messenger replied. "But I think it would be pertinent to have Gaius Baltar and Caprica Six here. I'd hate for you to have to repeat this to them later."

"Unfortunately, they aren't here at the moment," the Doctor spoke up, after what had been possibly the longest silence from the Time Lord in his 900-year existence. "They're on a different continent actually and it would very difficult-" The Doctor was cut off by the sudden appearance of Baltar and Caprica Six in the TARDIS, "-for anyone other than you to bring them here," the Time Lord finished lamely.

As a shocked Baltar and Six took in their surroundings the Messenger appeared between them and pressed his hands to their temples. The couple looked dazed momentarily but as soon as the Messenger lowered his hands, and reappeared in his original place, the duo seemed to come out of their trance. "What did you do?" the Doctor demanded, flying to side of Caprica and using his sonic screwdriver to check her vitals.

"Nothing damaging," the Messenger responded, seemingly unfazed by the Doctor's mistrust. "I simply replayed our conversation up to this point for them. Much easier than repeating the whole thing."

"We're fine, Doctor," Baltar said, gently pushing the manic time traveler away. "We know everything you've all discussed."

"And that's it?" The Doctor didn't seem ready to believe the Messenger just yet.

"Yes, that's all," Baltar repeated, a little more firmly. "Now, if we can get to the pressing matter?"

"Hera," Caprica Six spoke, speaking the word on everyone's mind. "What is so important about Hera?"

"Everything," the Messenger answered. "She is not what she seems. As we speak the Powers That Be are already putting their plan into motion."

"Plan?" Genuine worry crossed Caprica's beautiful face. "What plan?"

"At this precise moment, Karl and Sharon Agathon are rushing their daughter to the hospital with an apparent severe case of the flu. Sadly, the child will not survive."

"What?" Caprica nearly launched herself at the Messenger but Baltar and the Doctor restrained her. "Explain," she spat, her anger seething out.

"The child will not truly die," the Messenger continued, unfazed as always. "She will simply appear dead. At some point in the past the fallen angel Lucifer Morningstar will rip a fetus from a woman's womb. This fetus would have eventually become a very dangerous woman who would have posed a threat to the world. Lucifer will kill the child but the leave the impression with the couple that the baby is alive and been given away."

"Why?" Xander asked.

"So that no one will ever suspect the truth," was the Messenger's response. "It will be at this point, in the present, a balance demon named Whistler will abduct the supposed corpse of Hera and bring her back to life. He will then travel back in time with the assistance of Lucifer and place the child with a caring and loving couple."

"This is confusing," Xander interrupted, waving his hand and signaling the Messenger to stop. "What's with the time travel? And why is Lucifer, the devil, helping?"

"Lucifer does not want this universe to end anymore that you," the Messenger said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You think him a truly evil being but he is not; merely a deeply flawed and misunderstood individual. In any case, he is helping."

"But why fake Hera's death? And then send her back in time and kill this other couple's baby?"

"As I said before the child of this couple, the Eastermans, would be very dangerous. And by killing the child before it's born, it spares the world that threat. Not to mention it provides an explanation as to where Hera comes from. The Eastermans will believe Hera to be their unborn child and this will protect Hera from the armies of Heaven who may discover that she lives." The Messenger paused, allowing everyone the chance to process what he was saying. "As for the reasoning behind placing the child in the past…that is more complicated."

"Well, make it uncomplicated," Xander said.

"For Hera to reach her potential, for her to save us, she must first come of age. At three, she would be unable to harness her greatness. But by sending her back in time…"

"You give her the chance to reach the proper age," the Doctor finished.

"Exactly," the Messenger smiled. "She must be at least thirteen to fulfill her destiny."

"Which is what?"

"Defeat Yahweh."

There was a stunned silence in the TARDIS, interrupted only by the soft sounds of the time machine running. Finally, Xander broke the quiet. "What?"

"Hera is not the child of a human and Cylon," the Messenger stated. "She is their child." And he pointed to Baltar and Six.

"You mean, the human and the Cylon?" Xander asked.

"No, Xander. They are what Lucifer wanted them to be appear as." The Messenger glanced at Six and Baltar. "All this time you have wondered why the beings you see appear as each other, but you have gotten it backwards. They do not look as you do, you look as they do. You were created in their image."

Baltar grasped Six's hand as he said, "Whose image?"

"The archangel Michael and the woman he loved. They are what you see."

Baltar almost seemed to collapse, held up only by the strength of Caprica. "Why?" Six asked.

"Michael was the only angel capable of reproducing," the Messenger said. "This frightened Yahweh and when he discovered that Michael had fallen in with a human named Abigail, he had her killed and sent to hell. Michael tried to save her but Yahweh kept him trapped in Heaven. When Lucifer discovered this, he freed Abigail's spirit claiming to be God and that he would save her. Yahweh found out and in the ensuing battle her spirit was ripped out of her timeline and lost. With the hope of being reunited with his love gone, Michael fell back in line with Yahweh.

"It remained that way until Lucifer learned that Abigail's sprit survived. Knowing he could use her to further his own goals, Lucifer intervened in the cosmic plan and made sure the Cylons created Six in the image of the woman his brother loved knowing it would get Michael's attention. When it did, Michael tried to join her but Heaven's forces held him off. Eventually, he was able to create Gaius Baltar in his image with the hope that Baltar would somehow find Six and they would fall in love, thus in some way giving him and Abigail a happy ending."

"Which we did," Caprica said, smiling at a still pale Baltar.

"Yes," the Messenger agreed. "But it led to unforeseen circumstances; namely the destruction of the Colonies. When that happened Michael begged Yahweh to let him intervene. When Yahweh would not, Michael turned to Lucifer for help. Lucifer ensured Baltar's survival but in doing so discovered that Abigail's spirit remained as a separate entity from the Sixes. He allowed her to appear to Baltar on the grounds she help him stay alive and never reveal her true nature to the man. Since she still believed Lucifer to be God she did as he asked. Once Michael discovered that the spirit was still intact he escaped Heaven to be with her.

"Once he rebelled, Michael found himself without many of his powers. In order to be with Abigail they were forced to possess two lovers-Karl Agathon and the Cylon known as Athena. When Athena's pregnancy was uncovered, Michael and Lucifer knew what would happen to the child. She was the daughter of an angel and as such a potential threat to Yahweh. Michael, in his powerless state, began appearing as a guide to Caprica to ensure her survival just as Abigail's sprit continued to do the same for Baltar. Lucifer, who as the First of the Fallen had retained his power, manipulated events by posing as the Cylon God until the day Xander appeared on Galactica. Lucifer knew what your appearance meant Xander and he knew that Hera would be needed now. He continued to keep you all safe until the Doctor found you and everything would become clear."

"So…Lucifer is the Cylon God?" Xander said, his brain overloaded with information. "And Baltar and Caprica Six are…the reincarnation of the archangel Michael and his human lover?"

"Yes."

"And Hera is their daughter?"

"Yes."

"Okay," Xander nodded. This was by far the most amazing and ridiculous thing he'd ever heard but it some weird way he knew it to be true. "So why is being Michael's child so important?"

"Because Michael's power is only surpassed by Yahweh. As his daughter, Hera has the potential to take Michaels' power and use it to destroy Yahweh before he destroys the universe. That is why she must be at the age of thirteen. Any younger and her body would not be able to handle Michael's power."

"But how are we supposed to find her if you took her away and hid her in the past?" Xander asked.

"I know her adopted name and location," the Messenger said.

"Oh." Xander smiled sheepishly. "Can we have them?"

"She is in Los Angeles," the Messenger began, "and her name is Elaine Belloc."


End file.
